


Memories Unearthed

by orphan_account



Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Ancient Egypt, Ancient Egypt, Archaeology, Drama, Drama & Romance, Gods, Implied Sexual Content, Kissing, M/M, Mild Language, Romance, Threesome - M/M/M, Tragedy, Yaoi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-13
Updated: 2014-12-13
Packaged: 2018-03-01 06:28:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 35,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2763092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leontopolis – modern day Tell el-Muqdam. A tomb has been unearthed dating back to Ancient Egypt, and two archaeologists are sent inside to uncover the lost secrets of this unknown deity. But what the young men eventually discover is something neither of them could have ever prepared for – especially the curse within which will change their lives forever... </p><p>Alternate Universe</p><p>Threesome - SzayIchiGrimm</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Re-uploaded from FanFiction.net 
> 
> I've wanted to write something about Ancient Egypt for a while and I finally had the muse to get this thing started the other day. It's also been a while since I've written a SzayIchiGrimm, so I wanted to try my hand at this threesome again. 
> 
> I did a lot of research into Egyptian gods for this fanfic, and if anyone is wondering here are the actual descriptions of the gods I have chosen to write about. It would be good if you could read this first before you begin the story, as this may be helpful to you (further information can be found on Wikipedia and the like, which is where I obtained this information from):
> 
> Maahes: The lion-headed god of war. His parents are Ptah and Bast. He was also associated with the weather, knives, lotuses and devouring captives. One of his main cults was located in Taremu (Leontopolis), hence the location of this story. He however is NOT depicted as a panther. I changed that to fit in with the Bleachverse.
> 
> Shesmu: The god of execution, slaughter, blood, oil, wine and perfume, though in many places he is worshipped as a protector. Considered a demon god he has qualities of both light and darkness; whilst he is associated with destroying wrongdoers he follows the commands of the god of the dead and remains helpful to the deceased. He is also a great protector of the virtuous. He is considered to be connected with the goodness of Nefertem; in some personifications the two are shown as being similar in appearance and they share a strong link through perfume.
> 
> Nefertem: The god of healing and beauty, Nefertem is occasionally cited as Maahes's brother on various sources as his parents are also Ptah and Bast. Nefertem is associated with first sunlight and the perfume of Egyptian blue lotus flowers. Nefertem, like Shesmu and Maahes, is sometimes depicted as a man with the head of a lion - and as such the trio have been substituted for one another interchangeably throughout Ancient Egyptian mythology.
> 
> Disclaimer: All names of places, gods etc. are factual and are not made up, though I HAVE altered various aspects of Ancient Egyptian mythology and lore to suit the purposes of this story. Szayel, Ichigo and Grimmjow are characters of Bleach which is owned by Kubo Tite. I am merely borrowing them and their sexy asses for my evil plans.
> 
> Enjoy :)

**Memories Unearthed**

The sound of shovels scraping against hardened stone echoed throughout the small-cut valley around them, the sun-kissed palm trees which jutted out from fertile soil serving to provide some meagre source of shade for the workers as they dug. Tents were erected and pinned in to the sturdy deposits of sand and debris, and curious gazes of the nearby villagers paused to watch as the assemblage of archaeologists and field researchers bustled back and forth this cool pre-winter's morning.

It was a hub of excitement, this new tomb having been found quite by accident last month by a local farmer whose donkey had stumbled across a crag of rock which upon further inspection had led to what appeared to have been the ruins of an ancient pylon. Teams in the area had been pulled in to Tell el-Muqdam to see what they could find, and after a few days of hard searching they had indeed discovered that this was but one of many foundations of towering pillars so characteristic of an Ancient Egyptian temple.

The more the pylons were uncovered and the more the earth around them was dug and disturbed from years of untouched slumber, the more the teams had discovered the entrance to the mighty tomb sunken under layers upon layers of rock and sandstone. This area, Leontopolis, was quite famous for its tombs and temples dedicated to the feline gods of old, and it was not surprising to see the familiar faded frescoes etched onto worn rock depicting the cat goddess Bast. It seemed they had found another of her multitude of houses, and the Museum of Cairo and British Museums were eager to get their hands on the latest spoils of ancient history.

The present team situated here had been working on the last few touches of the excavation for the past two days, and today was their confirmed date for finally entering the sunken tomb below to discover the glories kept within its depths. His smile infectious and his eyes wide with excitement, one of the younger team members – a bright young man with equally bright orange hair to match, a lad by the name of Kurosaki Ichigo – waved to one of the workers nearby who had decided to take a rest upon a toppled rock near the entranceway. The elderly man smiled, lifting his hand in a return wave as he watched the twenty-five year old race off towards the tents.

Ichigo had been working for the British Museum since moving to England from Japan, now two years ago on his 23rd birthday. He had had a passion for ancient culture for as long as he could remember, and he was particularly enthralled by the uniqueness and mystery of Ancient Egyptian relics. He had soared through his university years, reaching top of his archaeology degree and earning a multitude of awards to his name, and he had jumped at the opportunity when the British Museum had offered him a scholarship to work with them on real-live expeditions in Egypt itself.

It had meant leaving his father and sisters behind, but he visited them regularly when he could, which served to heal the guilty ache in his heart. They were supportive of him and his goals, and despite not being able to see them on a regular basis anymore – it was all he could ever ask for.

Now reaching the half-fastened flap of the main tent his grin remained plastered helplessly on his lips as he tore through, startling the tall man inside who up until that moment had been bent over the table studiously recording the hieroglyphics painted on the side of a retrieved piece of pottery.

"We're almost in! They reckon it'll be another fifteen minutes or so and then we can head down there!" Ichigo's words tumbled from his throat in such quick succession he had seemingly forgotten how to breathe. He smiled sheepishly when he paused, catching the amused look on his partner's face, and he slowed down so he could give the other some time to recover from his outburst.

A pleasant chuckle falling from his lips, the pink haired man reached out to ruffle orange locks affectionately as Szayelaporro Granz – Ichigo's fellow field researcher and best friend since they had been teenagers – rose an eyebrow at the excited state of the slightly shorter man.

They were the same age and had gone to the same university and had both reached the top of their classes – though Szayel's chosen career differed slightly to Ichigo's in that he had opted for the Hieroglyphics reading electives and the transcribing of frescoes instead. Anything which enabled him to record and write about his findings. Ichigo was the more hands-on type who loved traversing the interiors of the tombs they uncovered, drawing up the outlines of the sites they found and determining what room had served what purpose.

Because of their outstanding abilities and their value to their team, they were paired together on almost every single dig – and the two couldn't have been happier.

Still smiling as he returned back to finish what it was he had been transcribing, Szayel's smooth voice rang out between them as he adjusted his glasses with his free hand.

"Good timing. I've just about finished with this one… I can't wait to see what else we can find down there." He grinned. Ichigo laughed, turning to pick up one of the discarded shards of clay and studying the pictograms etched and worn on its surface.

"What did this one say?" He asked. He had never caught the gist of hieroglyphs, no matter how hard he tried, so he didn't attempt to learn them when he was in college. He looked at his partner when Szayel lifted his head again to glance at the piece Ichigo was now observing.

"Ah that one was recording the lives of the owners. I'd estimate probably a middle-class family. They had two dogs and five children, with the first four dying shortly after birth. The mother apparently died soon after and the last child, a daughter, passed away in her mid-teens. The father lived on 'til about his early twenties." He sighed sadly. Ichigo frowned, his gaze softening considerably as he regarded the pottery and the images adorning its jaded surface for a moment longer before he too elicited a sigh as he placed it back on the table.

"I don't know how you can stand to transcribe stuff like that. It's heartbreaking." He mumbled, looking at his friend again. Szayel offered an understanding smile and turned back to his work.

"Sadly that was life back then, Ichigo. Not many people made it past their thirties." He answered softly.

Ichigo fell silent, knowing that to be true.

A few minutes went by, and Ichigo perched himself on the edge of the desk where there was a free space and idly swung his legs back and forth as he watched the pink haired man continue with his work. He often admired the way his friend became so absorbed with his job – he was passionate about what it was he was doing and Ichigo found he could relate wholeheartedly. He found it soothing somewhat just watching him and Szayel never minded in the slightest, quite content to let Ichigo do as he wished while they enjoyed each other's company.

After about fifteen minutes, Szayel lifted his head and placed his pen back down on the table, stifling a slight yawn with his hand and stretching his arms.

"Finished." He smiled satisfactorily. Ichigo quirked an eyebrow and his lips pulled apart into a wide grin.

"What?" Szayel asked, blinking when he caught this. Ichigo chuckled.

"And just how long were you working on that?" He inquired. Szayel rolled his deep amber eyes and pretended to pick up his pen again and throw it at Ichigo's head, causing Ichigo to snicker as he jumped off the table.

"Not long at all actually, I'll have you know." The taller man replied, his own eyebrow raised as he fixed the shorter man with a pointed expression. Ichigo was unfazed.

"Come on Szay, we both know you went through all of today's  _and_ tomorrow's quota of pottery in one go. I'm not surprised you're feeling tired right now." Ichigo answered, following Szayel as his friend moved towards the front of the open tent. Szayel mumbled something inaudible under his breath and Ichigo merely rolled his eyes, sighing in exasperation at his friend. Unfortunately the only downside of the pink haired man was that he had the tendency to be quite the workaholic.

Getting distracted by voices and fellow workers amassing near the front of the dig site, the pair paused in their steps and exchanged a quick glance.

"Come on you guys, we're waiting on you! Time to get suited up and ready to go!"

They blinked when one of the archaeologists leading the surveying team waved frantically to them – his blond hair bouncing across his face with the movements of his arm. Ichigo and Szayel blinked, rousing themselves out of their momentary stupor.

"Alright Kira, calm down!" Ichigo announced, laughing as he grabbed Szayel by the arm and helped pull the taller man along behind him, the latter rolling his eyes and chuckling at the orangette's enthusiasm.

"You don't need to pull my arm off you know." He reminded him, smiling when the other relinquished his hold momentarily to grab a pair of hard hats and torches from the equipment rack. He threw one each to his friend who caught them with ease, and they spent a moment strapping the hats on and zipping themselves up in suits and a harness, their torches hanging by their belts.

"Now would I ever be so cruel?" Ichigo teased, grinning back at the taller man and jogging with him towards the assemblage of their team who had already begun to slowly enter the cleared rubble and drop into the abyss below. Ichigo momentarily admired the rising pylons for not the first time that morning, a shiver of anticipation coursing through his spine as the promise of what was to come made his body tremble with excitement.

"Probably, one can never tell with you." Szayel announced, bringing Ichigo back to the conversation at hand when they nodded to the old man who was waiting nearby with the rope which would loop through their harnesses and gently lower them down into the underground tunnels. Ichigo scowled, knowing that Szayel knew fully well he took no offense to that comment whatsoever, and he was answered with another wide grin and a soft chuckle from the taller man.

"Be careful down there boys – the others called up and said it was a fair bit of a drop." The old man seated down grunted out, his voice cracked with age. The pair nodded, tightening the ropes around their waists and already positioning themselves at the entrance to the shaft.

"Will do." Ichigo replied, glancing to him to signal he was about to swing his legs over and descend down the precariously placed ladder. Szayel waited patiently above him, the two having done this procedure so many times already it was like second nature as Ichigo quickly and surely descended, his partner following shortly afterwards.

As he dropped into the gradually rising darkness of the shaft around him and gripping the cool metal of the ladder firmly with his hands, Ichigo heard the voices and scuffles of the team below them, Kira calling out and guiding them both down with the torch he was flashing by the walls to illuminate the remaining few steps of ladder in the darkness.

The air was stuffy and frigid, the fresh oxygen from above having not yet fully circulated the cavern below. It sent chills through Ichigo's clothed body, but he paid it no mind as he landed, dusting himself off and grinning his thanks at the blond whilst he waited for his friend. Szayel dropped down agilely next to him less than two seconds later, Kira nodding to him and smiling as he then turned to redirect the attention of the twelve others gathered around – calling out to the assembled men and women to be cautious as soon as the doors were opened. After all, having been sealed for thousands of years no one knew  _what_ was waiting for them on the other side.

Thankfully they'd yet to encounter any tombs or temples with traps, but sometimes the team wondered if that wouldn't be a bit more exciting than the standard five minute walk before winding up at a dead end and unable to go any further.

Ichigo watched as Szayel stepped forwards, his gloved fingers reaching out to trace over the faded speckles of cobalt, vermillion and onyx coloured paint marked on the overhead wall – the remnants of what once was evidently a lavishly decorated entrance hall. He smiled, the excitement clearly showing in deep amber eyes as he turned his gaze back to Ichigo – the orangette sharing his grin wholeheartedly.

After heaving and shoving at the sealed doorway, it gave a mighty groan and surrendered to the careful weight of the tools of the team, and the long-forgotten tomb was opened for the first time in centuries. The stale air rushed out in a blow of warmth, and the darkness seemed to swallow them whole.

The team composed themselves, checking to make sure they were all together, before switching on the rest of their torches and entering the ancient halls beyond.

* * *

"Can you pass me that torch for a minute?"

"Sure thing."

"Ok I found a path over here—ah never mind it's blocked."

"Dammit."

Around them the chatter of the workers echoed in the overwhelming silence of the corridor they had entered – the emptiness of the tomb making each whisper multiply tenfold into an almost unbearably loud volume. They had been inside for approximately an hour now – met with nothing but never ending darkness. As far as they could tell the path ahead of them continued on a straight line, with occasional side corridors trailing off here and there. Ichigo had surmised they were supply routes for workers and storage rooms for grains and animals, though because half of them had been blocked off by rubble from cave-ins and earthquakes across the centuries, no one could be certain.

Szayel had meanwhile started on the hieroglyphs and frescoes adorning the walls – the paint far too chipped to make out properly though occasionally there was enough of the diagrams left to make some sense of. One of the images he observed were of humans providing offerings to a large humanoid creature – an imposing looking man with the head of a lion. Considering the area this tomb was located in was famous for temples dedicated to the feline deities, he hadn't found this surprising in the slightest. He exchanged a brief word with the man working next to him, a fellow transcriber by the name of Yumichika, and he left the rest of the work in his hands as he turned around to locate his orange haired friend.

He didn't have to look too far, the pink haired man smiling as he shone his torch into the back of the orangette's head and making his fiery hair look like it actually  _was_ on fire. Ichigo turned around and fixed an annoyed glare at the taller man, rolling his eyes as Szayel merely chuckled.

"Yeah, yeah. Real cute." Ichigo grumbled. Szayel laughed again, turning his attention to the rubble-blocked passage the shorter man had been studying so intently for the past five minutes.

"Found anything?" He asked. Ichigo's brows unfurrowed and he nodded.

"Mhmm. Judging by how far we've come and from the faint glimpses of broken pots inside, I think this was another storeroom. Here, take a look." He answered as he stepped aside, making room for Szayel to edge forwards and shine the light from his torch in-between the cracks of rock and debris. Sure enough he could just make out the silhouettes of clay shards inside – and the scent of the stale air carried with it a very faint wholesomeness. It was most probably a food storage of some kind.

"How many has this been now?" He asked, looking back at Ichigo who had been watching him. The shorter man considered this.

"About five I reckon… god whoever this place was dedicated to must have been really high up." He grinned. Szayel smiled, falling into step with Ichigo behind the moving throngs of their fellow workers when Kira called out they would be lengthening the survey down a few more feet.

"So far I haven't been able to determine who this temple was in favour of. I've seen plenty of cats on the walls though but they're all different gods." Szayel spoke up, his fine brows creasing in thought. "Sekhmet and Bast are the most predominant though, so I think we can safely assume this was another of theirs. Though there was an unusual depiction back there I have Ayasegawa working on… a male feline deity this time around." He finished. Ichigo blinked, looking up at his friend.

"Really?" He asked. Szayel nodded.

"I couldn't make out the name though. The paint was too faded." He sighed wistfully. "Ayasegawa said he'd work some more on that and try and get back to me."

Ichigo mulled this over, shrugging and smiling brightly as he shone his torch over the narrow passageways around them, his eyes glittering with the reflections of the light as he took in the ghostly looking marks on the walls. They truly had stepped back to another era of history, and no matter how often he had done this, no matter how many tombs and temples he had helped to excavate… the excitement was real, was overwhelmingly controlling every single time. If he could he would choose to spend the rest of his life in these halls, trying to uncover every secret behind every nook and cranny he could reach. Szayel had remarked the same to him on more than one occasion – there was no doubt about it, the pair were in their element when they were in these ancient passageways.

There was a crunching noise from close by and the pair started when one of the workmen stumbled into them.

"Shit, sorry!" The worker apologised, straightening himself up with Ichigo's help and dusting himself off. A few of the other crew members glanced back and tittered at the scene. Ichigo shook his head, sighing in exasperation.

"It's fine, Ikkaku. Though what the hell were you doing?" He asked, an orange eyebrow raised. Ikkaku rubbed the back of his neck, his sharp features forming a grimace as he did so.

"Couldn't see for a minute and tripped on a bloody rock." He grumbled, kicking the stone at his feet and glaring at it as if it was his worst enemy. Ichigo rolled his eyes.

"That's what you have a torch for isn't it?" He asked, grinning when the bald man just glared at him instead.

"Fuck off, Ichigo." He grunted, turning back to the wall he was working on and stabbing at it with the hand brush. Ichigo snorted, grinning and waving at him as he edged further down the corridor, guiding himself with the light he flashed along the walls. The frescoes remained the same – faded, scratched and beyond repair. This tomb must have been a lot older than they had originally thought.

Another hour had passed, and the survey had slowly progressed further down the lengthy passageway. The team had been carrying out bits and pieces of pottery and taking samples of stone, and returning to get more. Having come across the eleventh storeroom and frowning in mild confusion as to why there were so many, Ichigo gazed at the latest discovery before him. Szayel had left to help the team with the pottery they had been carrying out, leaving Ichigo alone for a moment. He shone his torch through the rock, squinting at the varying utensils inside. Having half a mind to break through the rubble just to see if he could sift through the debris to somehow get inside at the wreckage to find something remotely useful, Ichigo was stopped when a hand shot out and gripped his arm gently yet firmly. He spun around only to be met with concerned amber eyes, his friend having come back.

"Szay? What's wrong?" He asked, straightening himself up. Szayel's brows were creased again and he leant closer, lowering his voice so as to not be overheard by the others.

"Do you hear that?" He whispered. Ichigo frowned, pausing and straining his ears to try and hear over the echoed whispers of their workmates. He didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. He was just about to look back over at his friend and ask if he was pulling his leg for some indiscernible reason when he was stopped.

_Wait a minute…_

It was low, but audible alright. Something which definitely didn't sound like the whispers of the workers next to them. He caught Szayel's gaze and their expressions grew grim.

"I take it that's not us, is it?" Ichigo whispered. Szayel shook his head. Ichigo sucked in a deep breath, knowing all too well the tell-tale signs of a pending cave-in. They'd gone through countless drills before in class. So far they had never had the misfortune of experiencing one… but it would seem that today, luck would not be on their side.

The noise abruptly stopped, a few of the other workers glancing around nervously just like the pair had moments before. They weren't the only ones who had noticed.

Szayel and Ichigo glanced over at Kira, the leader of their team carefully stepping back, trying to keep himself calm as he approached the rest of the archaeologists.

"I think we have a problem, team…" He announced slowly, calmly – though his voice tremored at the end when the unmistakeable low rumblings started again. They were louder now, sounding as though they were an angry growl of the wind on a stormy night…

"Is that… what I think it is?" One of the workers – a black haired woman squeaked out nervously. Kira closed his eyes, swallowing thickly as he nodded. The team gasped out, already tools dropping when the rumbling grew – the walls seeming to shake slightly. Szayel and Ichigo tried to hide the panic in their faces, their gazes hard and the pair already tense and ready to sprint down the corridor the moment Kira gave the word. Everyone knew they needed to get out  _now_ , but no one was leaving anyone behind. The worst thing to do in an emergency was panic. That was when lives were lost.

The rumbling now echoed around their ears and shook the very foundations of the earth, the tell-tale cracking of stone splitting the stale air apart like thunder inside their eardrums. The team cried out.

"Everyone… I want you to turn around and make for the exit NOW!  _HURRY!_ " Kira's yell rent the air over the splitting of the ceiling, the unmistakeable avalanche of rock shaking the passage and burying the corridors behind and before them with raining dust. The screams of the workers were ear-piercing – the tunnel unforgiving as it collapsed around them.

People tripped, others fell as rock caught them from above. Szayel had pulled Ichigo sharply along, the two dashing wildly towards the narrow entranceway – their lungs burning with dust and soot as the earth came tumbling down around them. Panic was taking hold, hands glazed with sweat and eyes wide with horror – nothing made sense, their hearts wild with fear as they tried to will their shaking legs to go faster, all the while wondering what the hell had caused the rock to suddenly give way when they were working.

They were almost out – they couldn't hear the workers behind them, could only hear the thundering of rock and the crashing of boulders – the soot and dust made them choke, made them grip onto each other in fear. They felt dizzy and weak, hot with sweat and lack of oxygen. Ichigo was panicking.

They weren't going to make it… they weren't going to make it…

_We're… not…_

" _ICHIGO! LOOK OUT!"_ The scream in his ears was Szayel's, Ichigo crying out as hands wrapped around his back and pulled him to the ground, Szayel pushing them both out of the way as a carved ceiling beam ripped from its ancient holdings and crashed down onto the ground where they had been running so frantically just seconds before.

Ichigo groaned as they fell, tumbling and hitting stone, clothes tearing and skin marking with bleeding cuts and bruises. He heard another yell fill the air and he knew it was his own as the last thing he saw with horrifying clarity was endless wide depths of terrified amber as he locked eyes with his best friend.

His head knocked against the fallen rubble and his world went black.

* * *

_Hurts…_

Something stirred, breaking the heavy silence of his mind. It was dark.

_It hurts…_

A hand twitched. Pain exploded in his brain. He bit back a choked whimper, his exhale coming out as a sharp hiss instead.

_Everything… hurts…_

He could feel it – hot, white pinpoints of agony. Every movement was torture. Even breathing. Where was he? What had happened? Why was everything black? Why couldn't he see? But most importantly… why did it hurt?

He heard something. He groaned louder. The sound exploded across his brain and made it ache more than breathing did.

_Shit…_

"Ch… go…"

A weak mumble left his throat. Something was out there – something calling out. It sounded far away. He mumbled again, trying to move and instantly regretting it.

"W…ke… up…"

What were they saying? It sounded like words. He couldn't focus – even  _thinking_ made his brain throb. Something touched his cheek. He groaned.

"Ichigo…" The words were clearer now. They sounded closer. Frightened. It sounded like his name they were calling. He tried to mumble in response, but his lips wouldn't work. He could feel himself slowly coming round – something touching his forehead. He strained to move something –  _anything_. He needed to see. Just to  _see_ dammit because he couldn't!

"Mmn…" He didn't know what he had said. It may as well have been nothing. It came out cracked, foreign and dry to his own ears, as if he'd never spoken before. He struggled with his eyes again, forcing himself to blink. He could feel the faint weak shutter of his eyelids and he heard something like a sigh of relief.

"Come on… wake… up…"

_I'm trying_ , he wanted to reply. But he couldn't find his voice again. He recognised what was on his face now. Hands. Fingers were stroking at his forehead, touching his hair and seeming to feel for something. He clenched his teeth, feeling more pain shoot through his head when his brain ached against his skull.

"Sorry…"

He groaned again faintly. He tried – one last time – to open his eyes and felt like he could cry in relief when he finally did so. Unease and confusion settled back over his mind though when he was met with an even darker blackness than before. Panic surged through his chest, making him ache again.

"C-can't… see…" He rasped out. He heard fumbling, a clink of metal and something heavy dropping to the ground. He winced when it seemed to echo in his ears.

"Shut your eyes a little. Otherwise this is going to be even more painful."

Ichigo did as the man told him – he recognised that voice, its low smooth tone comfortingly familiar to him despite how scared it sounded at that moment. He winced again when he caught the brief explosion of light under his eyelids, and he could vaguely pinpoint its source nearby. He felt those hands gently rest on his cheek again, and a soft command was whispered for him to slowly open his eyes again, a little at a time.

He did so, though with great effort, and could almost gasp in relief when the blurriness eventually cleared to reveal to him the yellow light from the torch dancing across the opposite wall. His eyes blinked, accustoming to the brightness after so long, and he finally settled on gazing up at the man above him.

"Szay…" He croaked out. The man's expression was greatly relieved, his amber eyes tired yet his smile wide. He looked shaken up – his hair slightly messed up from the collision and tracks of dust and rubble smeared on his clothes, a small red cut or two on his cheeks and his glasses nowhere to be seen, but other than that he looked no worse for wear than normal. He shifted a little, leaning back a bit and carefully reaching out to seize Ichigo by the shoulders and helping to pull him into a seated position against the wall when the orangette tried to move.

Ichigo bit his lip, groaning lowly when his head seared with pain as he rested it against the cold hard stone of the wall behind him – but thankfully it only seemed to be his head hurting. He gave an experimental twitch of his legs, feet, arms and fingers and was pleased to see that they appeared to still move like normal.

He breathed heavily for a few moments, waiting for the world to stop spinning.

"What…" He licked his lips, trying to moisten them enough to speak, "what happened?"

Szayel groaned a little as he shifted to stand from where he had been kneeling next to the shorter man, his hands flying out to grip either side of the wall as his legs shook under him. He hadn't caught as much of the downpour of rubble as Ichigo had when they were sent sprawling, but that didn't mean to say he hadn't suffered any damage himself.

One of the rocks had crushed his leg and bruised it badly enough for him to have trouble standing. Thankfully it was just bruised, but it still hurt like all hell. He felt pain tear through his chest at knowing Ichigo had taken the brunt of it when he'd knocked back hardly against that fallen stone and he'd been out for the past hour. Szayel was just glad that the other man hadn't hit his head any harder. He only had a small bruise lump on the back of his head which didn't look like it would turn into anything nastier than that, but hitting his head a little lower with the force of how hard they had landed and he may have broken his neck.

He didn't want to think about that.

Worry flashed over Ichigo's warm brown eyes when he saw Szayel's weak attempt at standing, but the pink haired man waved it off with a faint grin, though it came out as more of a grimace.

He exhaled slowly as he glanced around them at the destroyed corridor.

"You hit your head on a rock and were knocked unconscious when we fell down. You were out for about an hour. Thankfully it doesn't look too serious but I don't know if you're feeling pain anywhere else other than your head." He began, his voice quiet as he looked down at his friend. Ichigo shook his head. Szayel closed his eyes.

_Thank god for that._

He glanced back down at Ichigo again and steadied himself against the opposite wall, biting his lip as he flexed his leg a little. Thankfully the pain was receding somewhat but he wouldn't be able to walk straight for a good few hours yet.

"Are… you ok?" Ichigo's timid inquiry broke the silence. Szayel tried his best to smile.

"Yeah… yeah I'm fine. Just bruised is all." He sighed, running a hand through his hair and glancing back down the dark halls surrounding them. His gaze was uncertain.

"I had a look up there before you woke up… the way we were heading before… well…" He gestured somewhat awkwardly to indicate their fall before continuing, shaking his head and releasing a frustrated sigh. "We're trapped. The rubble is too thick and we can't go anywhere but down the way we were excavating before the cave-in."

Ichigo sighed heavily, gingerly gripping his forehead as he closed his eyes again. The nausea he had been feeling slowly slipped away, but he still felt uneasy. When next he spoke, his voice was deathly quiet.

"... What about the team?"

The silence that followed confirmed all he needed to know. He gritted his teeth, anger and despair now rising in his chest to replace the aching pain in his head as he choked back a wave of frustrated tears.

" _Shit_ …"

"I'm so sorry Ichigo…" Szayel's voice sounded broken as he fixed a helpless gaze on the orange haired man, he too feeling overwhelming anger and sadness filling his chest at the fates of their friends. The horrifying vision of seeing broken bones and trickling blood, and in some cases even a few dismembered limbs earlier up ahead in the tunnel was forever imprinted into his mind – and he had almost loosed the contents of his stomach when he had come across the nightmare-inducing remains of their fellow archaeologists when he had been searching for an exit.

He didn't think he would be able to sleep peacefully again for the rest of his days, assuming he and Ichigo were able to remain alive to make it out of here again. The best he could do right now was to spare the orange haired man the gruesome details and prevent another tragedy from happening all over again.

Ichigo tried to compose himself, the man hastily rubbing at his eyes to clear the blurriness of his salty tears from them – he willed himself to stay strong. Breaking down right now would  _not_ help their situation when what they needed to worry about was finding another way out of here lest he and his friend were the next to go.

He heard slow movement and he lifted his head up in time to see Szayel carefully shuffle down on his knees, bringing the torch towards him and leaving it on as he slung it back to his belt. The walls danced with eerie flickers of shadow as he reached for the rope which was still tied around the harness on Ichigo's waist.

"Sorry. Need to… get this off." He grunted out with effort as he pulled at the tight knot. Ichigo reached down and helped him, the two working together to finally untie the blasted thing and help the orangette unfasten the restraint. They wouldn't be needing it anymore, seeing as they were stuck down here for god knows how long, both of them not even sure if there would be another way out.

Sighing heavily as he ran a hand back over his face, Ichigo took a few deeper breaths to steady himself as he tried to mentally prepare for standing up. He didn't feel shaky or particularly weak in his limbs, but with a banged up head any false movement would send him sprawling off balance again.

He felt a hand rest reassuringly on his shoulder, Szayel moving slowly and carefully back to his feet as he trailed his hand down to grasp gently at Ichigo's, entwining their fingers together firmly as he went to steady himself against the opposite wall.

"I'll help pull you up. We need to rest longer but given the circumstances I don't think that would be a very good idea. The air's already getting hard to breathe." Szayel murmured quietly. Ichigo nodded his understanding – he'd noticed it too – and with his friend's help he tightened his hold around gloved fingers and groaned as he helped push himself up from the wall, Szayel biting his lip when he leant on his injured leg more than intended as he pulled the shorter towards him.

Ichigo cussed faintly as he was met with vertigo, and he panted harshly with exertion when he steadied trembling limbs against the hard rock of the wall he was now facing. He felt arms wrap around him for support and he cast a weak appreciative smile at his friend when they paused momentarily, Szayel keeping his hold firm around the other's waist whilst he fished back for the torch and held it out with his free hand, illuminating the darkness of the passage in front.

"Take it easy alright?" He muttered when Ichigo tried to press forward, the orange haired man wincing when his head decided that wasn't a smart move. Ichigo panted again, trying his best to laugh.

"Can say the same for you. Your leg looks as bad as my head feels." He replied dryly. Szayel found he really couldn't disagree with that.

"At least I'm not suffering motion sickness." He mumbled. Ichigo actually did crack a grin at that. Their steps were slow as they began shuffling forwards – looking every bit the pair of suffering men that had gone through hell and back. Indeed they almost looked dead on their feet, and they knew it.

"Hey… Szay…" Ichigo grunted out after a minute, wincing when the dancing lights in front made him feel slightly dizzy. They had managed a few metres, and so far so good.

"Yeah?" Szayel answered, his voice slightly breathless from all the effort it took to walk with his injured leg and trying to keep each other steady. Ichigo furrowed his brows for a moment, looking back to his best friend.

"I just realised… your glasses…" He mused, trying his hardest to change the subject about their misfortune. Szayel blinked, chuckling softly.

"They fell off and broke. Oh well. Better that than me going blind if they'd shattered in my eyes." He shrugged. Ichigo rose an eyebrow, the pair shuffling forwards a few more feet.

"You mean to say you weren't blind before?" He grinned. His friend scowled at him, his amber eyes seeming much sharper without the frames than with them when he fixed his gaze directly on the shorter man.

"No, as a matter of fact. I can see reasonably well thank you." He replied, trying to make his tone icy but failing as he winced with pain again at the end of his sentence. His foot had just scuffed against a rock.

Ichigo swayed a little and helped pull him back before the other threatened to fall over as he lost his balance. He cussed under his breath again as they carefully navigated their painful way through the wreckage rising up to meet them. Thankfully the rocks here were able to be picked through with some form of ease, but they wondered if it would be worse the further on they approached seeing as that was where the rock-fall had sounded from.

"Then why… ouch… why do you wear them if you can see so well?" Ichigo asked, now actually quite interested to know. He paused and then his grin widened ever so slightly. "You want to make yourself look smart don't you?"

Szayel groaned and rolled his eyes, making to not-so-accidentally stamp on Ichigo's foot to get him to shut up. Ichigo stifled a yelp of pain and shot daggers at his friend. Szayel gave a satisfied smirk and continued to help him along.

"I only need them for reading. Sometimes I just get lazy and can't be bothered taking them off. Now would you  _please_ focus on helping me get around these rocks instead of asking about my eyesight?" He sighed in exasperation.

Ichigo managed a sore chuckle and complied, his smile softening as he and his friend finally managed to clear the first metaphorical and literal hurdle of rubble and wreckage around them. The light from the torch flickered against the walls, and the way was slow the longer the pair continued to traverse that narrow, claustrophobic passage.

They fell silent, the only sounds echoing down the halls being that of their pants for breath and occasional trips on stray debris. The air had become hot and stuffy, almost to the point of sweltering, and beads of perspiration had tracked down their cheeks and necks as they struggled. However they continued on, driven only further in their pain and fatigue to try and find  _some_ way out of this passage. It had carried on straight for what felt like miles – maybe even days – but they were familiar with the layout of tombs and they knew they would have to reach an antechamber eventually. Hopefully from there they could rest a little and try to decide what to do, though something continued to nag at the very recesses of their mind as they navigated on.

And that was that this was a tomb, and normally for such structures there was only one entrance and exit. And that had been blocked off by the cave-in.

Something unspoken between them urged them to continue onwards however, as they just needed a space to settle. As they had been walking they had come to a suggestion about a possible plan of action to take. An antechamber was usually much larger than the narrow entrance passage, and seeing as the rock the tomb had been dug into was not the most sturdy of stone, they surmised that if need be they could just use some of the treasures left for whoever it was buried here to smash some walls down. It sounded childish in their minds, and not to mention it went against everything they held dear as archaeologists, but nevertheless it was the only plan they had.

Ichigo felt his breath hitch as they sidestepped another broken rubble pile, the orangette almost toppling over the unstable rock. He probably would have if Szayel hadn't steadied him, and Ichigo flashed another grateful smile at him they continued to edge slowly on. Thankfully they had found it easier to move the longer they had stayed upright, and though Szayel was still holding Ichigo's waist for support, the taller man had noticeably begun to apply more weight on his injured leg and was able to maintain pressure on it for longer periods of time.

Ichigo decided to break the silence, his voice hoarse and dry when he spoke up.

"How long do you think it's been?"

Szayel sighed, wearily swinging the torch around and focusing it straight ahead down the passage – it still stretched on as far as the light would allow, and he bit back a groan of frustration.

"Honestly I don't even know. Probably years." He grumbled. Ichigo really didn't blame him. He carefully slipped his arm around the man's slender shoulders, helping pull him along a little quicker so they could have some hope of reaching the end of this godforsaken passage sooner – if it ended at all. His head had stopped spinning and aside from being painfully aware he still had a bruised bump on the back of his skull, he felt fine and could walk at almost normal speed again without feeling like he was going to bend over and vomit.

So he almost felt himself collapse in stunned disbelief when he felt something cool brush across his face and he stopped dead in his tracks. Szayel blinked, cussing faintly as he gingerly turned on his leg, and he gazed at Ichigo's brown eyes which had widened as he focused ahead of them.

"Ichigo?" His voice was quiet, concerned. A wide grin spread across his partner's lips. Szayel blinked in confusion.

"Do you feel that?!" Ichigo's voice was a hushed whisper of excitement, the orangette turning his head to gaze into deep amber eyes. "There's cool air down there! That means it's fresh! Which also means—"

"There could be a way out!" Szayel breathed, his own eyes steadily widening as a grin of his own slowly crept over his pale lips. He didn't want to jump to conclusions  _just_ yet… but the more he stood there the more he could, without a doubt, feel the faint breath of cool air touch his face, and it smelt fresher than the staleness of the musky corridor they were in now. He clutched his arm tighter around Ichigo, the shorter man almost laughing in relief as he began pulling the other gently along with him.

"We're going to be ok… we're going to be ok!" Ichigo cried out, his body trembling with excitement. Szayel grimaced when Ichigo's enthusiasm caused him to nearly trip over again, but he waved it off when the orangette glanced back and sheepishly apologised.

"I certainly hope so but… don't you… ow… don't you think we should still be a bit more cautious down here?" He asked quietly. "What if we get our hopes up for nothing? What if there isn't another way out?"

Ichigo sighed, his laughter fading as his familiar scowl etched over his tanned features. His hold tightened on his friend.

"There will be." He whispered. "I know it."

Szayel remained silent, studying his friend's face carefully for a moment. One certainly knew not to argue with Ichigo when he had his mind this resolved on something… but at the same time one also knew to trust him at times like this. After all, his intuition was surprisingly sharp – and was often rarely incorrect. He felt a soft smile form on his lips and he nodded, allowing himself to place his trust in Ichigo yet again. He knew neither of them would be let down after all.

The path continued to rise before them – but as they slowly inched closer towards the steadily clearing source of air the pair couldn't help but notice the lack of rubble around them. In fact, it was now all but non-existent, as if a cave-in had never occurred. If that was the case it had only happened at the entrance where there had been the most amount of pressure placed on the ancient doorway and surrounding walls, but even so they could have  _sworn_ the rumbling of the halls had come from further down below.

But, then again, when one was in a pitch-black shaft where even the slightest amount of sound echoed tenfold overhead, it was easy to lose one's sense of direction and ability to pinpoint noise sources accurately. So the pair had unanimously settled on that as the only explanation.

"I wonder if there'll be traps and freaky voodoo curses…" Ichigo mused after another prolonged silence. Szayel blinked himself out of his reverie and laughed.

"Ichigo!" He exclaimed, chuckling. Ichigo grinned, glad to see his friend had lightened up and he tightened his arm comfortingly around the man's slender shoulders.

"Well, you know." He shrugged, grin still in place. "Ancient tomb… not been disturbed for thousands of years…" His brown eyes glinted mysteriously. "Maybe there's a mummy?"

Szayel smiled, glancing ahead of them as he raised his torch again. His breath caught in his throat when the light's rays didn't flood the corridor ahead of them as they had been for the past however-long-hours they had been edging forwards, but instead narrowed out and expanded in a wide arc at the end of the corridor, which was some metres away. The edges of a path leading into a wider room were cut into the passage, alerting the pair that they had finally,  _finally_ , come to the end of this maddening hall.

Ichigo's eyes had widened and he stopped in his tracks.

"Is that…" He breathed out, almost unable to believe what he was seeing.

Szayel could only nod, just as stunned as Ichigo was. When he answered his voice was hoarse.

"It is… I think we've come out into the antechamber…" He whispered, pulling his hand away from Ichigo's waist momentarily to press it against the cragged rock which jutted inwards to mark the petition screen separating the passageway from the larger room within as soon as they had finally neared the rising structure.

Ichigo picked up his own torch from his belt, turning on the light and shining it inside the swallowing blackness. His eyes widened when the light flooded a chamber which stood more than ten feet high, and close to twenty feet across. Szayel had frozen alongside his friend, the man feeling his mouth part slightly in shock.

The duo cautiously entered, the waves of cool air brushing and sweeping over their hot bodies and making them shiver as the sudden change in temperature formed goosebumps on their limbs. They maintained a careful hold on each other as they swept their torches across – unable to believe the sheer monstrosity of the hall they had entered. But what had held them entranced the most was not the size of the antechamber, nor the lack of treasure – the space completely devoid of glittering gold and trinkets – but the frescoes and hieroglyphs adorning the ceiling, walls and floor.

They were in perfect condition.

They almost had to shield their eyes from the startling vibrancy of the yellows, reds, blues and blacks which danced vividly before them when their torches swept across the lavish stone.

"Holy shit…" Ichigo breathed, almost scared to raise his voice as if he would make the paint somehow fade and crack before their eyes if he dared disturb the chamber in any way. Szayel blinked, nodding and swallowing thickly as he glanced his torch up upon the left wall next to him.

"You can say that again…" He whispered.

"Holy shit." Ichigo repeated. Szayel managed a grin despite his awe, and he carefully walked over to the centrepiece fresco which had been holding his attention. Ichigo followed his friend's gaze, and he felt his mind go blank when he saw the monstrous painting rising from the floor to the ceiling, blocking everything else out with the sheer presence of its majesty.

"Ichigo, can you shine your light on that a bit more?" Szayel asked quietly, his gaze firmly settled on the lion's head painted with remarkable realism near the ceiling. Ichigo brought his torch up, shining the ebbing wave of light next to Szayel's. The two froze, amber eyes glancing into brown.

They moved their lights, trailing slowly down the monolithic figure.

There was no mistaking the bronze tanned skin with the muscled figure of a man, his hands raised with weapons of war held in his grasp. His posture was kingly almost, and the lion's head was gazing proudly out at the fields of terrified servants before it – their heads bowed and their postures kneeling in respect… and most likely fear.

The humanoid's eyes were a brilliant cobalt, and the lips of the lion's maw were curled into a ferocious sneer, revealing sharp and deadly pointed teeth. There was no denying this creature was a god. A very powerful one indeed.

Ichigo felt a shiver course through his spine the longer he stared at the breathtaking image, Szayel faring not much better himself.

"This was the same figure as the one in that diagram near the entrance…" He whispered. Ichigo tore his gaze away from the painting to glance at his friend. Pink brows were furrowed faintly in contemplation, the man slowly reaching out a hand and touching his fingers to the wall, tracing over a set of hieroglyphs etched under the humanoid's feet.

"Maahes…"

Ichigo frowned.

"Is that his name?" He asked, glancing back at the painting. He stepped closer to the taller man. The realistic azure gaze of the creature above felt almost haunting.

Szayel nodded, sighing as he ran a hand through his hair.

"I think so. Judging by this he appears to be related to war… possibly the prominent deity of fighting? I don't know I'll need to spend some time with these hieroglyphs." He sighed, tilting his head back and closing his eyes. Ichigo glanced up at him and realised just how fatigued he really did look in that moment.

"Maybe we should get some rest? We've been walking for god knows how long and you're still injured..." He pointed out. Szayel opened his eyes and gave a grateful smile.

"Yeah… yeah I guess you're right. I wish I knew what the time was though…" He muttered. Ichigo shrugged, sighing as he carefully lowered himself down on the cold ground, trying his best to avoid sitting on any major strip of paint. He frowned again and glanced up curiously when he heard rustling, and he blinked in amusement when his friend had retrieved one of the special soft glow LED lights the team carried with them for lighting up dark hallways from the pocket of his zip up suit.

He turned his torch off, knowing that this was a better way to provide light to the room without wasting whatever small amount of battery they had left. He calmly leant against the wall, patiently waiting and trying his best to not let his heart leap into his throat when Szayel turned his own torch off – the antechamber becoming bathed in pitch black once again.

He audibly released the frightened breath he had been holding when a soft, calm red light relit the chamber, providing enough illumination for them to both see each other but without being damaging enough to begin to erode the paint with its glow. Szayel eased himself down and leant back against the wall next to Ichigo, wincing when he laid his leg out in front of him and he cussed faintly.

"You sure you're ok?" Ichigo whispered. Szayel nodded.

"It's a lot better than it was before. I haven't gotten any cuts or open wounds but my leg's starting to swell a little." He bit his lip. "I know we're not going to come across any but if on the off chance there's a magical hot spring or something down here, I would kill to have one." He groaned. Ichigo sighed, agreeing wholeheartedly.

One thing was certain – this tomb definitely wasn't an average tomb. It felt like something more… much more. Both friends were not wanting to voice their thoughts, but they knew they had been feeling it for a while. Perhaps since the team had first entered.

Something was not right here. At all. Starting with the lack of treasure in the antechamber and the fact that the only thing they had found was a monstrous painting.

"What do you think caused the cave-in?" Ichigo asked softly, trying to change the subject. He shivered when he realised how cold the air was in here – the eerie light from the LED bulb not making the blanketing darkness of the chamber any better off when he glanced quickly around them. He shivered again and let out a sigh of relief when warm arms wrapped around him, Ichigo carefully allowing himself to be pulled against Szayel's chest when the taller man had moved him closer. Seeing as they had no blankets with them to stave off the frigid iciness of the antechamber, they had to make do with each other for now.

Ichigo closed his eyes as he rested his head against the crook of the man's neck, breathing in slowly and feeling locks of pink hair brush over his cheek. He felt arms begin to soothingly rub over his back, and he felt his fatigue begin to wash over him again, making him realise how tired he really  _had_ been for the entire time they had been walking down here.

"I don't know. Maybe we were being too careless when we opened the place." Szayel sighed, his voice quiet next to Ichigo's ear. He glanced at the wall facing them, finding himself mildly intrigued despite how tired he was when he saw the fresco opposite the one they were leaning against. It was of the same creature – this 'Maahes' – but the scene was different. Instead of facing a towering flock of souls like in the frieze behind them, this one had the lion-headed creature standing alongside two others. Amber eyes surveyed the towering creatures – the same height as the main god himself – and found himself wondering.

They were both men, their figures bronzed and muscled – though one was slimmer than the other. The slimmer man appeared to have a decoration of sorts in his hair and held in his hands – something blue and what bore reminiscence to an agapanthus or lotus flower. The man alongside him was similarly depicted – though a uraeus was painted above his head, representing sovereignty. Alongside this uraeus were two stars. Szayel frowned slightly, running his eyes over the trio.

_Who were these gods?_

Ichigo had fallen silent, though his gentle breathing against Szayel's chest alerted the taller man that his friend had fallen asleep. He shifted a little so as to draw his good leg up, providing more support for the sleeping man as well as diverting him away from the pink haired male's still-healing injury on his right calf. His arms were still wrapped surely around his friend and his hands stroked gently through spiked locks as he resumed his silent investigation of the antechamber.

The LED lighting thankfully provided much more visibility than those torches, and he felt his curiosity and puzzlement only increase at the next fresco to grab his attention. It was of the same three gods again, and – just like with the second frieze – the scene was entirely different. And so were the appearances of the deities.

The lion-headed man remained depicted the same, but the two mysterious others were not. The slimmer god, while still holding the blue flower in his hand, was now sporting the head of a lion himself. And so was the man who had previously been painted with the uraeus and starlight.

Szayel could only assume that these three beings were connected somehow, if they were all depicted as lions. He knew from his history lessons that this usually meant one was "fierce of face", and drew their more violent roots from the goddess Sekhmet, but the fact that he simply had no idea at all about the identities of these three was baffling to him.

And then… there were the eyes.

He frowned, and he subconsciously tightened his hold around his sleeping partner.

He didn't know why, but the bright gold and ochre brown of those pairs of eyes made him feel slightly uneasy.

He sighed, tilting his head back against the wall.

_I need to stop thinking about this so much_ , he chastised himself. He instead focused on Ichigo's gentle breathing, and the welcoming warmth of the other's body heat in that icy chamber. He cast his gaze to the floor, idly reading the stroking lines of hieroglyphs.

Apparently this was telling the story of some great war long ago. He paid it no mind, instead feeling his fatigue wash over him fully as it threatened to force his eyes closed. He tried to fight against it but he knew it was a losing battle – he needed rest, they both did. Trying to assure himself that after a few hours they would be able to continue onwards towards the draft of air that guided them in here in the first place, he slipped off into a dreamless sleep, his head resting against Ichigo's.

The LED light flickered merrily away, the glow casting eerie shadows over the walls housing them.

* * *

He was roused by someone gently shaking him on the shoulders.

"Nn… what is it?" He groaned, his voice husked with sleep as Szayel tried to swat away the hands which were gripping his shoulders and cheek gently and shaking him a little more to get him to wake up. He heard Ichigo chuckle, the orange haired man not giving up in his little quest until he saw the amber eyed man's eyes wide open and wide awake.

"Szay… come on… we have to keep moving." His voice filtered softly to his ears and the pink haired man sighed, begrudgingly lifting a hand from the other's back and rubbing his eyes to try and blink the drowsiness from them. He heard a satisfied sigh and movement shifted – the warmth of the other leaving him as Ichigo carefully shuffled back and reached out as he got to his feet, his hands finding the other's and slowly pulling him up from the ground.

Szayel flashed a grateful smile at his friend as he dusted himself off, Ichigo doing likewise as the pink haired man yawned softly.

"I don't know how long we were out but the light's still working so I guess it wasn't as long as we thought." Ichigo announced as Szayel shook his head a little to scatter the last grasping claws of fatigue away from his mind.

Szayel reached down to pick up the LED light, switching it off and coating the room in blackness before the singular wide arc of light from his torch relit the chamber. He used the beam to help him locate the pocket he had extracted the soft glow lighting from and he zipped it up after placing the light back, sparing a last glance down at where they had rested to make sure nothing had been left behind. Not that they had anything with them in the first place, but it was a force of habit. He turned to meet Ichigo's expectant gaze.

"Did you rest alright?" He asked. Ichigo nodded, reaching out to wrap his arm around his friend's waist as they slowly began walking towards the rising exit the torchlight revealed to them. It seemed to lead into another passageway of some description, and even though the thought of more claustrophobic passages and mile-long corridors did not appeal to them in the slightest, it was where the fresher air was coming from and the sooner they left this hellish tomb the better.

"Yeah I slept great. I didn't realise I was so tired until I closed my eyes, you know? Though you do actually make a good pillow." The orangette chuckled, trying to somehow lighten the mood as the duo approached the looming corridor. Szayel rolled his eyes.

"I'll put that on my résumé then, shall I? 'Archaeologist and field researcher specialising in hieroglyphics translation. Also can double as a makeshift pillow for lazy bastards who fall asleep on the job.'" He announced, snorting in amusement at the mental image this conjured. Ichigo grinned, patting the man on the back and holding back the sigh of discontent as they stepped over the threshold and entered the still silence of the new corridor leading to – hopefully – an exit of some description. One thing was for certain, the air was becoming colder, crisper even, than it had been where the team had first entered. Ichigo mused over this, his brows furrowing.

"Did you find out anything from those murals?" He asked, his voice quiet. Szayel glanced at him. Ichigo returned the look. "You had a look at those hieroglyphs and frescoes didn't you?" He elaborated. Szayel nodded.

"Yeah I did. I didn't gather much from the hieroglyphs other than that they were describing some kind of war. But as for the frescoes…" He paused, his brows crinkling in thought. "There wasn't just one god. There were three of them."

Ichigo's eyes widened.

"I presume they were in league with our mysterious deity? I'm not entirely sure. One thing's for certain it can't be a mere coincidence if two of the three friezes in there had all three of them as the main focus." He finished.

Ichigo chewed his bottom lip in thought, flashing his torch ahead of him.

"Hmm…"

They continued on. Szayel didn't mention anything about the unease he had felt when glancing upon those pictures, instead preferring to keep that slight detail to himself. After all they were just images in paint. But the realism with which those eyes had been coloured… he felt himself swallow and he exhaled slowly.

Something really wasn't right about this tomb.

"… You said there were only those gods in those murals…"

Szayel was dragged out of his thoughts by Ichigo's voice and he turned to him again. He saw the shorter man's expression was guarded, careful. He nodded. Ichigo fixed his warm brown eyes back on his partner.

"Were there any pharaohs?"

At this Szayel could feel his eyes widen as sudden realisation came crashing down around him.

"No… not anywhere… even on those paintings in the entrance hall…" He answered at length, already not liking where this was going. Ichigo smiled grimly, as if this was an answer he had been fearing.

"I thought so. I mean dedicating a temple to a god is one thing but a  _tomb_? A tomb is for men. And even so… both the temple  _and_ the tombs would have the pharaoh seated as the divine deity, gaining favour from his chosen god. Szayel…" Ichigo's voice came out strained and hoarse, his expression now panicked. "Just what  _is_ this place?" He whispered.

For once the pink haired man couldn't answer. He merely tightened his hold around Ichigo's waist and helped guide them further down the corridor, his steps less pained now that he had rested. In fact he had almost regained normal walking speed, and his feet gripped the ground solidly as they strode on.

Neither did the two of them know that the answer they were both seeking presented itself the moment they left that corridor, some twenty minutes after they had entered it.

* * *

The path descended, and they knew they were approaching the deepest, darkest bowels of the desert this mysterious tomb had been carved into. The more they walked, the more they felt like this was one place which should never have been discovered. Truly it should have remained sealed and untouched for the rest of time – the air was too cold, and the frescoes were too vivid. Too horrifying. Too  _real_.

Their torches had glanced off of terrifying images of mutilation and slaughter as they continued on – Szayel for one feeling himself becoming queasy at the graphic detail as it brought to his mind the fresh horror of seeing their fellow team members buried under the rock at the entrance. Ichigo tried his best to ignore the wild smirk upon the lion god's lips as the friezes depicted him triumphantly ripping the head off of one familiar divine being the pair knew very well – Seth. The fabled bringer of evil and murderer of Osiris, the Egyptian overseer of the Underworld. Whoever this creature, this  _thing_ the tomb dedicated to was… he was nothing short of a tyrant. It made their blood run cold.

Ichigo had seen for himself these two other gods Szayel had mentioned in the friezes back in the antechamber – as they were always depicted standing alongside the god of war – whether trying to stop him or encourage him on, neither of them knew, but it remained highly unsettling nevertheless.

This trio… they could only be evil. After all – even with Seth's depicted defeat the slaughter never ended.

"I don't know about you but I'm feeling really uneasy right now…" Ichigo mumbled to his friend, subconsciously tightening the hold he had around his slim waist. Szayel nodded, unable to reply as his attention was taken by a mural spanning the topmost wall above.

He almost paused in his steps, his eyes slowly widening.

This one was different from the rest in that there was no war, there was no destruction nor hysterical and bloodthirsty grins… in fact as his amber eyes focused on the kneeling form of the lion god over his two other accomplices who were lying before him on the ground, he almost rose a hand to bite the back of his knuckles in horror.

They had been stabbed. What appeared to be sharpened spears were lodged in the centre of their throats, their stomachs… their blood flowed freely over the Nile River and tainted its cerulean waters crimson.

His eyes glanced back and forth, taking in the carnage and wishing he hadn't when a shudder coursed his being. His heart pounded rapidly in his chest. This creature… this  _destroyer_ … he had murdered his own friends!

He stifled the strangled gasp which would have threatened to rip from his throat. He was about to turn his head quickly away, to try and find something –  _anything_ – to take his mind away from that detestable revelation when something else caught his eye. Something which made him all but forget his anguish of mere seconds ago.

_Wait…_

There was another figure… waiting behind the lion god, with its cruelly shaped spear raised towards his bared back… the same type of spear which had mutilated the other two unnamed deities…

He stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes scanning the hieroglyphics detailing the event in full bloody detail. Ichigo had long-since wandered ahead, the orangette meanwhile frozen dead in his tracks as his brown eyes wavered.

They had reached the end of the passage.

There was yet another room beyond. If this room… could be called a room at all.

_This… this has to be a mistake._

"Szay…" His voice was barely above a whisper. He blinked when he didn't receive an answer – Szayel still far too intrigued by the hieroglyphs before his eyes. Ichigo tore his gaze away from in front of him to look behind, his eyes wide.

"Szayel?" He called out, slightly louder. The pink haired man lifted his head then, glancing quickly back at Ichigo and all words fading from his lips when he saw the expression in Ichigo's eyes. He strode forwards, momentarily forgetting the wall he had been gazing at.

"What's wrong?" He asked cautiously. Ichigo didn't blink, instead his voice was disbelieving as he slowly extended a hand to point in front of him.

"… Please tell me I'm not the only one seeing this…"

Szayel followed Ichigo's gaze, his brows furrowing in concern at the way Ichigo was acting. He lifted his eyes and focused on whatever it was the orangette was pointing at… and he felt his stomach drop.

They had come out of the tomb alright.

But what was before them – the air crisp and sweet, fragranced with a floral scent which carried on the gentle gusts of breeze as it whipped at their hair – was something neither of them could have ever imagined in their wildest dreams.

In fact, it was something that should have never even existed.

"This… this can't be real… there's… there's no possible way…" Szayel whispered, his gaze wavering. And yet… somehow… somehow there  _was_.

He felt a hand clench at his arm, and Ichigo's expression of disbelief mirrored Szayel's perfectly as the high rising sandstone pylons and columns rose before them, the rich gold of an Egyptian sunset catching the corners of yellow stone and setting them ablaze with light.

The pillars rose for miles along – the deep blue sky cloudless and never-ending marred partially by the overhead hanging rock face of sandstone which served as a natural harbour against the chill from the river, the river which was coasting along ahead in ripples of the deepest sapphire blue – a natural valley as wide and as long as an Olympic swimming pool some metres before their feet. The fanning green leaves and graceful petals of blue lotus flowers sailed slowly along the barely breaking laps of water – their sweet fragrance being what they had smelt in the air around them.

Sconces fuelled by fragranced oils were lit on the opposite side of the Nile bank, their flames flickering in the air yet not giving any indication that they were about to be blown out. It was if some kind of enchantment had kept them burning for centuries upon centuries…

Because this entire landscape was surely not of this present day era.

No… if the two archaeologists were to hazard a guess… it was very much as if they had stepped back in time.

With trembling breaths and disbelieving eyes they lifted their gazes slowly – the rich vibrant greens of palms along the far bank bordering the barely visible golden-capped pyramids on the horizon. Not the Great Pyramids of Giza, but pyramids worthy of many influential pharaohs nevertheless.

They didn't want to believe it, no matter how much their hearts yearned to prove them otherwise. Their brains remained steadfast in their need to see wisdom – that they were fatigued, famished, delusional with lack of air,  _anything_ … one did not just simply walk into a tomb and end up in a wide open space of land the spitting image of photos and diagrams they had studied depicting Ancient Egypt.

It was impossible.

There was absolutely no… no…  _no_ way such a thing could happen.

None.

But yet…

It felt too real… the air… the scent of lotus… the sound of the lap of water against the river bank. And the warmth of the sunlight as they carefully stepped forwards…

It was real. They didn't know how they knew. But all of it… it was… real.

"This isn't happening…" Ichigo breathed, his voice sounding dry as he inched forwards some more. He tried to take in everything at once and found he couldn't. He settled for collapsing down by the river, his reflection staring wide-eyed back at him as he gazed into the deep crystalline depths of the water. He tentatively reached out and touched his fingertips to the ripples, as if afraid it really  _was_ an illusion and it would disappear the moment he reached out and the mirage would fade to leave them stranded back in that tomb.

He cried out, his chest shuddering and heaving with sobs of relief when he felt the water slip through his fingers and wet them with their cool liquid touch, droplets of very real moisture wetting his clothes as he splashed his hands again and again…

The water landed everywhere – in his hair, on his face, on his clothes, and it spilled out on the sand around him – the ripples rocked and rolled and the lotus plants precariously swayed in time with the current Ichigo's fevered movements were creating. He wanted to cry, to scream, to do  _anything_ to snap himself out of this but… but he knew it was real. He just… knew it. In his heart and soul he  _knew_ he had made it. He paused suddenly.

Made it where?

He didn't have an answer.

Szayel meanwhile was standing there, only able to gaze on in shock as Ichigo cried out his triumph at the riverbank. He closed his eyes, shaking his head and gripping his hair – trying to seek reason within himself.

_We're going mad… this has to be the only explanation… we've finally gone mad. Or we're dead. We're dead AND we're mad. Either one of them._

He took three deep breaths, telling himself that when he opened his eyes everything would go back to those cramped, claustrophobic halls… they would be back in that tomb and trying to find the nearest exit so they could return to the surface. He took his first breath. Ichigo's cries of joy didn't stop.

He took his second. The splashes of water continued to fill his ears. He grit his teeth.

He took his final breath, and opened his eyes.

He fell to the ground, ignoring the pain in his leg in favour of shock and dismay mixed with a surge of relief at seeing that they were still by that river, the pylons high overhead… the glorious sunlight streaming down and warming his cold skin and making him feel  _alive_. Possibly for the first time in… he frowned slightly as he picked up a handful of sand, his amber eyes watching the gravely particles as they slipped dryly through his fingers.

The first time since they'd started this excavation… or maybe before that? He couldn't ever remember feeling so happy before…

He shook his head, doing his best to focus on the here and now as he let the sand fall, lifting his head back to Ichigo when the shorter man had picked himself up from the bank and strolled over, his smile as wide and as infectious as the joy in his eyes when he extended a hand and helped pull his friend up. They dusted themselves off, gazing around in awe at their newfound surroundings.

"This doesn't make sense…" Szayel whispered, though the smile on his lips was wide as he and Ichigo slowly navigated around the riverbank. Ichigo shook his head and folded his arms behind his neck.

"Nope. I don't know what this place is doing here either… but honestly nothing beats finally being out of that tomb. I mean can you feel how great this air is? It's like I've never breathed before!" He announced happily. Szayel laughed, fully inclined to agree as his eyes lifted to the blanketing horizon of desert, dotted fields of green palms rising as far as the eye could see.

"Hey I think we've come across the actual temple!" Ichigo exclaimed a moment later, grabbing Szayel's hand again and helping to pull him along when he saw the rising columns on the right-hand side supporting the painted sandstone which formed the first half of the hypostyle hall they had entered. Szayel's eyes widened and he eagerly followed, the pair gazing around them in awe as the mighty beams of stone rose high above them – far too large for any normal temple they had seen so far.

"This is…" Szayel began, unable to finish his sentence.

Ichigo could only nod, his mouth dropping open a little.

"I can't believe it… was this  _really_ what temples looked like back then?" He span around, craning his neck to try and take in the sheer monstrosity of the size of those pillars rising high and proudly to block out the sun above.

_Holy… shit…_

"I suppose it's to be expected… this place was dedicated to three gods after all." Szayel mused beside him, shielding his eyes with his hand when a beam of sunlight coursed down one half of the pillars. Ichigo found no reason to argue with that, and sharing a glance with his friend they raced forwards with as much speed as they could muster. All temples had one particular room which was, above all others, considered the most important. It wasn't the courtyards, nor the houses storing food and incense and rooms for the priests.

It was the sanctuary, which was by typical design built at the very farthest reach of the temple land. That was where the cast of the reigning deity resided, and was where those visiting the temple believed the god would manifest to them.

Heading now for this very sanctuary, they only had one thought cross their minds – if they could see just  _who_ this temple was really dedicated to, it would hopefully shed some light on those mysterious three figures which had plagued the tomb walls behind them.

There was only one way to find out.

* * *

The blue of the skies and the hypnotising criss-crosses of light streaming down from the columns of the outside halls behind them faded away the moment they crossed the threshold into that small room.

It wasn't cramped or black like the darkness of the tomb, rather it was lit by fragrant sconces much like those they had seen bordering the riverbank on their way over. The soft orange glows of light illuminated the etched hieroglyphs in the stone, no painted frescoes marking the walls in this sacred space.

The air was still cool, but slightly less so as the four walls and ceiling blocked off the gentle gusts of wind that came in on the river. However, it wasn't at the walls nor the outside the two men were gazing transfixed at with widened eyes and opened mouths. It was at the great statue facing them within.

Seated on his haunches upon a rising pillar of sandstone, the beast was almost the size of a man and carved in startling lifelike realism for stonework. In fact, the more Szayel and Ichigo gazed at the beast, the more they felt like they were becoming drawn into the opened and endless seas of bright cyan of the statue's eyes.

They could hardly blink as that intense colour drew them in, and without warning they found they could do nothing else but approach. They gazed first at the eyes and the teal coloured jade carefully and lovingly carved underneath the feline's lids as it stretched out towards the beast's ears – short and pointed back against its head as its mouth was pursed in a regal line, the faintest hint of sharpened teeth visible from under the lips of stone.

It wasn't fashioned in the likeness of a lion however, contrary to what the depictions back in the tomb had otherwise stated. Instead this creature was more panther, its muscled body lacking the characteristic mane and budded tail of the feline desert king. The colour of the stone for its body was unusual as well – instead of being hewn from onyx or granite as was for some, this cast appeared to be made from the finest deep hues of lapis lazuli – the orange flames from the sconces flickering off the carved stone and almost blinding the two men with its shimmering shades of sapphire.

They stared, absolutely transfixed. It was a while until either of them spoke.

"He's beautiful…" Ichigo breathed out, tentatively reaching forwards and pressing his fingertips to the front of the panther's nose, smiling softly as he traced over the coolness of the stone and caressed against the teal markings leading to its ears. It was a slight reach for him, but leaning over the sandstone base of the block the statue was seated on he was able to manage somewhat. Szayel nodded, blinking and walking around the statue, his eyes studiously taking in the posture of the beast and how it appeared it was sitting patiently, as if waiting for something.

"It looks like he's about to spring to life any second now." He chuckled faintly, running his hand along the carved back. Ichigo grinned.

"Watch it, he might just do that." He answered. Szayel shot him a playful smirk and returned to his ministrations, tracing his fingers across the defined shoulders and then admiring the craftsmanship of the stone face as soon as Ichigo had pulled away.

"So this is our mysterious god is it?" He mused quietly, crossing his arms over his chest and tilting his head slightly as he considered the carving. Ichigo nodded.

"It would seem so… but I'm confused. Who was the lion?" He asked, his brows furrowing. Szayel glanced around them, his eyes taking in the hieroglyphs rising on either side of the walls.

"I wonder…" He trailed off, stepping forwards and touching his fingers to the indents of script, his fingers tracing over the imprints as his eyes scanned the pictograms back and forth. Ichigo waited patiently whilst his partner read, and he turned his attention back to the carving.

His chest felt tight when he looked at it for some reason. He assumed it was the way those cyan coloured eyes stared straight into his own, as if calling to him from somewhere within. He had to hand it to the Egyptians who crafted this beautiful creature. It really was the most amazing thing he had ever seen.

He reached out and touched his fingertips back to those eyes, tracing over them yet avoiding the cyan stone comprising the creature's irises. They were far too real-looking he felt, and part of him found himself thinking that it would probably hurt the statue in some way if he went about poking its eyes at random intervals. So he settled on tracing back over those teal markings, coming to a halt at the tips of its ears. He had lost count of how long he stood there, gazing over every ridge of stone. It was just too realistic…

He actually  _wouldn't_ be surprised if it came to life at any moment.

"I found something."

Ichigo lifted his head at Szayel's voice and he gazed up at the taller man. His expression was clouded however as he studied the particular block of text he was reading – his brows furrowed thoughtfully. Ichigo left the statue and walked over to the pink haired man. Szayel leant forwards again and pointed to one set of text – drawing Ichigo's gaze to the pictograms etched into the stone in slightly larger font than the rest.

"This… I think this is it." Szayel murmured. Ichigo looked at him.

"Does it say who he is?" He asked, motioning back to the panther. Szayel's expression was grim.

"It does… and also something else I don't feel comfortable with." He announced. It was Ichigo's turn to frown. Szayel sighed, his eyes gazing at the words before him as he read out his translation, his voice slow and clear.

"'In here lies the traitor-beast, whose destruction of Egypt and all her lands will be forever despised. The wrath of Osiris he did bring when Seth he slew, his retaliation for his fallen comrades a terrible treachery to the Underworld. The curse of a thousand lifetimes was brought upon him, when he claimed two others by unlawful means. Their punishment came at the hands of their defeat, though they were forgiven in their dying breaths by Isis. The traitor-beast is hereby trialled, his powers stripped, and no longer will he claim his former name while he slumbers, cast in stone. When they who were lost again return, he who sleeps shall reawaken and we shall have mercy. This is the warning laid out by Osiris, whose loyal servant Shesmu he had pity on, and by Bast, who weeps for her son Nefertem. Until this day comes, woe be the traveller who reads these binding words, and may death cast itself upon the unworthy.'"

A heavy silence rang out.

Szayel pulled back, sighing as he ran a hand over his eyes. His voice was hoarse.

"The name of the traitor is Maahes. It's the same god we saw in the tomb." He confirmed, removing his hand and gazing at the name above the text he had just read out. "These words were written as a curse. Most likely for the travellers they mentioned." He muttered. He looked back down at the shorter man, gauging his reaction.

Ichigo was frozen still, the words of the text Szayel had just read out circling in his mind. He crossed his arms over his chest, chewing his bottom lip.

"I… find it difficult to believe he was a traitor." He mentioned quietly after a moment. Szayel blinked.

"Well according to this he was." He motioned back to the wall. Ichigo nodded, but his gaze was still uncertain as he glanced back at the statue behind them.

"But he looks… kind of sad…"

Szayel watched the shorter man closely for a moment, eventually sighing at length and reaching out to stroke his hands through orange locks, drawing the other's attention back up to him.

"It's just a carving, Ichigo." He smiled, though in a somewhat saddened fashion. Even he had to admit, he had found himself not entirely trusting of what he had read.

The orangette furrowed his brow again, eventually rubbing his eyes with his hands and nodding as he glanced back up at his partner.

"Yeah… yeah you're right. Sorry. Anyway what was that about claiming two others by unlawful means?" He questioned, his eyebrow raising. Szayel shrugged.

"I have no clue. It could be anything. Maybe he forced them into his service? Tricked them in some way? Who knows." He answered.

Ichigo mulled this over, eventually giving a shrug of his own. Another brief silence passed over the two.

"Personally I want to know what it means by him having his powers stripped… if this really is the Maahes we saw friezes of back in his tomb… normally tombs tell the stories of the interred and their greatest life accomplishments. I think we can safely assume that this lion god was at the height of his fame and glory… but to be stripped of his power and cast into stone…" Szayel's eyes narrowed and he gazed at the panther carving. "… Surely not…"

Ichigo blinked.

"What are you thinking?"

Szayel sighed, shaking his head and rubbing the back of his neck.

"Nothing. It's… nothing." He replied, smiling faintly. Ichigo didn't look so convinced, but he let it slide nevertheless.

"I think we may have found the identities of those two others the text spoke of though." The pink haired man spoke up again. Ichigo turned to him once more.

"They were those other gods we saw in the friezes right?" He queried. Szayel nodded.

"I'm willing to bet they were Nefertem and Shesmu." He announced. Ichigo considered this. That didn't seem such a far-off guess. After all he'd suspected the same.

"When they who were lost again return…" Szayel continued, reciting the lines of the hieroglyphs out loud once again. "Hmm…"

The pair had circled back over to the panther statue, gazing intently once more at those brilliant cyan eyes.

"So when Nefertem and Shesmu somehow come back from wherever it is they were sent, this guy's going to wake up?" Ichigo chuckled, raising an eyebrow. "That sounds pretty ridiculous, even for an Egyptian curse."

Szayel smiled wistfully.

"I'm inclined to agree. I mean if they were gods how could they be defeated in the first place? But, this  _was_  Ancient Egypt after all… I don't even want to know what goes on in their heads sometimes." He replied.

Ichigo hummed his agreement, reaching back out to trace against the side of the panther's jaw. He still felt his heart wrenching at the almost pained stare in those crystal clear eyes, but he brushed it off once more.

Szayel meanwhile was continuing to mull the curse over in his head, trying to put together the pieces of the puzzle to the best of his ability given what little evidence they had to work with. He had a few theories… but none he was willing to voice out loud as of yet. But those eyes…

He narrowed his eyes at the cyan depths of the statue in front of them.

_It's almost like it's pleading with me._

He mentally shook it off.

"I think we should head back outside and take a better look around. We might find something more helpful." He suggested at length, Ichigo nodding his agreement as he pulled back. They turned around and exited the sanctuary, beginning their search of the outside courtyards. Above them the sun continued to set leisurely over the temple.

* * *

The hours passed and among their thorough investigations of the temple dedicated to the traitor god, they had come across one of the old rooms which would have belonged to the priests. It was clean and contained furs over a stone block which served for a bed, large enough to fit at least three grown men, and it was well-sheltered from the weather – the night falling with a remarkable warmth which had made the pair remove the torn and tattered protective zip up suits they had been wearing up until that moment.

Relieved as the extra weight removed enabled them to stretch their limbs with more freedom, they relished in the cooler temperature over their skin in their shirts and jeans. They had paused by the river to bathe afterwards – the sweetness of the lotus fragrances acting as a natural perfume which both had found quite pleasing. Ichigo had smiled when Szayel made an offhand comment that lotus flowers had always been a favourite of his, and Ichigo found he rather agreed.

The water was refreshing and cleared their heads of their fatigue, as well as soothed their limbs from their strenuous and stressful day. It also proved safe to drink, and after having their fill of water to ease their parched throats they had dried off and redressed, then returned to their earlier surveys of the surrounding pathways and store rooms.

They were delighted to chance upon a dry room which had contained many stacks of sealed pots and various other clay storages. Upon removing the lids with some effort they had found that food and grains had been stored – salted meats and fruits and nuts in other separate containers opposite. Neither of them questioned how the food was so fresh, as if it had only been laid out that very morning. Especially not when their stomachs had growled and they ate as if they were ravenous wolves among sheep. Feeling famished beyond all words they had all but moaned in content and bliss – feeling like never before had they tasted food so rich and mouth-watering.

When they had had their fill, eating until they felt as if their stomachs would burst, they had settled down by the riverbank again, their shoes removed as they idly dipped their toes in the coolness of the water below, watching in lazy content as the lotus flowers sailed past as if without a care in the world. Overhead the moon had risen high, and the stars burnt like balls of flame alongside the silvery orb above. The sound of crickets could be heard faintly over the gentle breeze, and after everything they had gone through they felt as if they had finally stumbled across paradise, in the middle of the nightmare that had only been a few hours previously.

They had even forgotten about the mystery surrounding the traitor god and the curse written down in stone in the sanctuary – the two friends just simply at ease with finally finding a proper place to rest.

"I wonder what Karin and Yuzu are doing now." Ichigo mused out loud to himself, tilting his head back to gaze up at the sky. Szayel had been resting with his head against the other's shoulder, his eyes closed. He smiled.

"I don't know, I haven't seen them in ages. Or your father come to think of it." He replied. Ichigo laughed.

"It's probably for the better, that last one." He grinned. Szayel chuckled, then shivered slightly as a chill crept up his spine. Ichigo noticed and looked down.

"You ok?"

Szayel nodded, sitting up a little and pulling his feet out of the water before leaning his head back on the orangette's shoulder.

"Mhmm. Just cold." He replied.

Ichigo frowned faintly – it was fairly warm out. However he paid it no mind and went back to stroking his hand absentmindedly through pink locks.

"Maybe we should head inside then?" He suggested. "I mean we  _have_ been out and about all day… we've probably been up for an entire week. Or more. I don't know I feel like I've lost track of time." He sighed.

Szayel murmured something in agreement and nodded his head, shivering again.

"Yeah I'd like to rest and get warm." He replied. Ichigo straightened himself up, glancing down at the taller man with concern now in his eyes.

"It's not cold, Szay. You sure you're alright?" He asked. Szayel blinked, lifting his head and glancing up at the orangette. He looked doubtful.

"I'm fine… I think. I don't know I'm just freezing. I feel like my lips are turning blue." He frowned, pursing his mouth in a thin line as if trying to get circulation flowing. He was shivering. Ichigo really did frown now, swivelling around so he could face his friend fully.

"Stop doing that for a moment and let me have a look." He mumbled, reaching out and pressing a hand to the man's cheek to get him to lift his head. He exhaled sharply and he withdrew his hand as if he had been stung, his brown eyes widening tenfold.

Szayel meanwhile jerked back, flinching like something had come out and hit him in the face.

"Jesus Christ your hands are like ice!" He exclaimed. Ichigo gazed horrified at him. The man's skin was sweltering.

"My hands aren't cold, it's warm out here tonight, and you, Szayel, currently have a raging fever." He announced quickly, standing up and pulling the taller to his feet before he even had any time to react to that statement.

"What? I don't ha—"

"Yes you do." Ichigo's gaze was hard as he stared into amber eyes. He could see it alright – the man's normally pale complexion was clammy and glistening faintly with sweat, and his teeth were chattering as he gripped his arms tightly with his hands. His cheeks were red.

"Shit we need to find something that'll help." Ichigo announced, grabbing the man carefully by the still-clothed part of his wrist and ignoring the man's weak attempts at trying to convince him he was fine. He was clearly delirious if he didn't believe he had a fever – being medical savvy as he was and almost as good with medical treatment as Ichigo's father, if not better. Ichigo knew a bit about healing himself, but without the proper equipment here he would have to try and find something from one of the store rooms they had located. He only hoped they had something like herb storages around – he needed something with diaphoretic properties.

He tried his best to ignore Szayel's weak ramblings still trying to convince Ichigo there was nothing wrong with him, and he tightened his hold on the man's wrist as he led him to the room they had previously picked out as the one they would rest in for the night. He gently guided the other down on the makeshift bed, having to use a little more force than he would have liked when the pink haired man had started to weakly fight against him, and he all but gasped out in horror when Szayel trembled and went deathly limp.

Ichigo's heart leapt to his throat and he cried out in shock. He rushed forwards, calling out his name and gripping his shoulders, shaking him to see if he was alright. He didn't know whether to feel relieved or even more concerned when he saw Szayel's chest rise and fall rapidly, feverish gasps for breath parting his lips as his body raged with heat.

"Shit…" Ichigo growled, wondering what the hell could have brought this on as he begun hastily unbuttoning the man's shirt and removing it quickly, trying to cool him down. Surely if it was something food or water related it would have happened to him as well? After all they had eaten the same things at the same time… both had drank from the river at the same time… yet Ichigo was fine. He then remembered the still-healing bruise on Szayel's right leg and his gaze darkened.

Maybe it  _was_ infected after all.

He gazed despairingly at his fevered friend.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He all but whimpered, reaching out to gingerly unroll the folds of his pants to push them up enough so he could see the gaping, green coloured wound he was expecting to see.

Instead he froze when all he was met with was just pale, smooth skin. As if it had never been bruised in the first place.

He was momentarily stunned.

_What the…_

He reached out, making to trace his fingers against the man's calf over where he  _knew_ that bruise had formed. He knew because he had  _seen_ it… when they were bathing in the river before… a delirious moan of agony from the pink haired man drew his attention back to the present and he jumped back, Ichigo's eyes wide as he tried to calm his pounding heart.

"Ok I'm going to find something to help you Szay, alright?" He gasped out, his eyes pleading as he willed his friend to hang on. He didn't think he could hear him anyway but he had to try. "Just… I'll be right back!" And with that he tore out of the sheltered room, his heart pounding viciously in his chest and his footsteps echoing around the deserted temple courtyard as he pushed all thoughts of that mystery out of his mind.

He needed to find a medicine storage. Surely the Egyptians would have left one here?

He certainly hoped they did, because the life of his best friend was on the line. He gritted his teeth, his expression determined as he raced past the food storages and into the next warehouse alongside it. They had noticed a collection of incense and myrrh here before, which led Ichigo to believe that perhaps medicinal herbs were stored here as well.

He desperately tore open the lids of pots and jars, all the while his heart hammering away so dizzyingly fast in his chest all he could hear was the blood pumping furiously in his ears. He almost cried out in fatigued relief when he caught the scent of peppermint, and he dived for the herb – tearing it off by the bunch as he fisted his hand around a nearby cup. He stemmed off the peppermint leaves, the orange haired man then throwing in leaves of other herbs he had located alongside, but he stopped dead in his tracks when he realised something.

He would need to soak the herbs in hot water to get Szayel to drink them.

He slowly fisted his hands in his hair, his chest constricting painfully as he tried to hold back the overwhelming urge to hyperventilate.

Where was he going to get hot water?

He desperately looked around, searching this way and that for a heater or coal fire of some description. He kicked the wall in frustration when he then realised that even  _if_ there was a coal fire, there were no candles or matches to light it with.

He almost sunk down to the ground in his misery. It was in that moment of despair that he punched his fist against the back of the stone behind him, grunting when he felt his knuckles tear with the impact, and he picked up a crudely made clay bowl – racing out of the storeroom and sprinting towards the riverbed. He dropped to his knees and dipped the bowl into the cool depths of the stream, and he ripped out one of the lotus roots from nearby. He crushed the flower in his hold, not really sure why he was doing such a thing, and he squeezed the sap into the bowl. The soothing sweetness of the flower filled his nostrils and he felt himself relax despite the ache in his heart, and he knew that this would help his sick friend – if only for a short time until he could think of something better.

Not bothering to dry his hands he stood himself up, the bowl of water and lotus flower sap grasped tightly in his right hand. He turned his head and was about to race back down to the shelter when he was stopped as his eyes caught something in the distance, on the opposite side of the riverbank.

He froze entirely, blinking quickly and turning his head fully to gaze upon the spot he was  _sure_ he had seen something watching.

He felt his heart skip a beat and almost come to a still when all he was met with, as he stared out at the opposite bank – very faint and far away in the distance but still far too real and bright to be considered an illusion – were what was unmistakeably a pair of brilliant blue orbs.

Eyes.

He blinked, and the lights vanished.

His mind went blank. He stood at the edge of the river, hands dripping with water and sap as he clutched the clay bowl tightly in his grasp – so tightly his knuckles had turned white against his skin. His heart felt as if it had come to a permanent rest in his throat.

_Those were…_

He blinked and gasped as he remembered Szayel and gave the mysterious sight no further heed as he tore back down the courtyard, panting heavily as he willed his legs to carry him faster. Szayel was where he had left him – though his fevered moans and gasps of pain had increased. He was sweating profusely, and his features were contorted into such horrifying expressions of agony it was as if he was suffering unspeakable amounts of pain.

Or as if he was cursed.

Ichigo growled, forcing that thought out of his mind as he dropped to his knees beside his hurting friend. He ripped off the sleeve of his shirt and used the torn linen as a makeshift cloth as he dunked it into the bowl he had brought with him, squeezing out the scented water and pressing the cloth to Szayel's forehead.

He grit his teeth, willing this to work. He just needed his fever to abate a small amount – small enough that Szayel's skin was no longer as scorching as it was – and then he could work on finding something proper. But for now… he prayed to every god he knew for his friend to make it.

He held his hand against the man's sweltering cheek and whispered to him to relax, to try and rest as much as he could. He knew Szayel wouldn't be able to hear him, but he needed to do _something!_ He bit his lip almost hard enough to draw blood as he removed the cloth and dunked it back in the sap water, squeezing it out again and then pressing the cool cloth back to the man's forehead.

It took a few rounds until he noticed that Szayel's frantic whimpering had lessened somewhat, and the breath was not escaping his lips in as fevered a gasp as it was previously. Ichigo closed his eyes, bowing his head and praying that he was on the right track – praying that this was helping his friend instead of hurting him more.

He continued to whisper soothingly, the scent of the lotus flowers calming in that otherwise horrifying scenario. He felt like he could almost cry when, finally, after what felt like an eternity, Szayel's skin had cooled enough for Ichigo to touch without wincing, and the man's brows had unfurrowed ever so slightly from their creased torment. He allowed a relieved smile to grace his lips, gently keeping the damp cloth against Szayel's forehead as he sat back a moment, shifting on his knees to get more comfortable.

Szayel's head fell weakly to the side and his chest still continued to rise and fall sharply, but the pained gasps and groans had long since stopped. Ichigo bowed his head against the man's chest and tried to calm himself, his limbs feeling weak with overwhelming gratitude. He found one of Szayel's hands and squeezed it reassuringly, pressing his lips to kiss the back of his fingers. Then he slowly stood up, leaving the cloth on his forehead as he gently draped an animal skin over the man's bare chest, keeping him warm as much as he could whilst he stepped out for a moment.

Even though Szayel's fever had abated, it still seemed he would be restless for a while. Ichigo had to be quick.

His legs tearing into a sprint as he raced off towards the furthermost tip of the temple grounds, his mind was clouded as he focused on what had been bothering him for some time now, but had been pushed to the back of his mind in favour of calming his friend's fever to a containable level. And that was the memory of those eyes at the riverbank.

He knew they were eyes. Some deep, buried innate part of himself told him that. But what really concerned him right now was that those eyes… were of the most unnatural shade of blue.

A bright cyan.

He had seen those eyes only once before.

Gritting his teeth and steeling himself as he approached the sanctuary, he wasn't entirely sure what he was expecting to see when he entered that small closed room.

But as he froze at the entrance, his heart pumping once again with an increasingly all too familiar panic that threatened to consume him whole,  _nothing_ could have prepared him for what met his gaze.

The panther statue was gone.

 


	2. Chapter 2

He didn't know how long he stood there.

His mouth was agape, and his eyes were so wide it had started to physically strain his facial muscles as he could only gaze, stricken dumb, at the dark – and empty – sanctuary before him. The sconces continued to flicker merrily away, casting their ghostly light upon a platform of sandstone which no longer housed the great panther carving.

At first he thought he was delusional with stress and fatigue about Szayel's condition, and that when he would open his eyes he would see that it was all just a figment of his disturbed imagination. He settled on testing that theory – he clenched his eyes shut, gritting his teeth as he willed himself to calm down.

When his breathing was slow and steady, his heart pumping at a normal speed, he exhaled sharply and opened his eyes.

He should have known better.

He slid down the rock of the wall behind him, a groan of dismay leaving his lips at the still gapingly empty sanctuary before him. He shook his head, gripping his hair tightly as he tried to quell the freshly bubbling surge of panic rising in his chest like a vicious animal ready to strike. His weary brown eyes focused on the vacant pillar of stone.

"Be reasonable about this, Ichigo…" He whispered out loud to himself. "It was definitely there earlier. Both you and Szay were in here… you both saw it…"

He groaned, burying his head in his hands as he brought his legs up to his chest. His shoulders trembled, and for the first time since his mother's death when he was a child, he genuinely cried.

The pent-up shock, distress, fatigue and horror of the start of this ill-fated expedition up until now intermingled in his brain, overriding his senses and forcing him to let his emotions go unchecked and unchartered as the tears flowed fast and freely down his cheeks, dampening his arms with their salty tang. The grief of hearing about their team's deaths in that cave-in, spending hours upon hours traversing down lonely forgotten halls, the shock and wonder of coming across a land which should never have existed, the discovery of an ancient curse which even now seemed to be proving itself more than a simple hoax as his best friend fought raging fever… and then  _this_. The disappearance of a six foot tall panther carving where it was seated here before him only some few hours ago.

He was scared, he was lonely, he was distraught and tired and he was losing his mind. He had to be.

There was no other explanation.

"Someone…" He croaked out, his voice heavy and wispy with tears. "Someone… help me..."

He gave a bitter laugh in amongst his tears as he knew that no help would ever come.

He grit his teeth, the choked sobs escaping his throat sounding pathetic to him as he shook his head, trying to pull himself back together. He stood shakily from the ground, knowing that with Szayel still sick the absence of one stupid statue was hardly the least of his worries right now. He cast a venomous glance to the sanctuary, turning around and stumbling away from the small room, his hands flying to his face and hastily rubbing away the tears from his eyes and cheeks.

His paces were almost as feverish as Szayel's current ailment as he tore through the silent night towards their lodgings. He barely even paused for breath when he came to a halt, sinking to his knees beside his still-sleeping friend and he buried his head against the animal furs he had used to cover the pale man with. His hand fisted against the stone by his feet and he focused his breathing, urging himself to get a hold of his violent emotions lest he do something he would sorely regret.

It took him a long time to finally calm his pounding heart – too long for his liking – and he gradually unclenched his hands, his knuckles stretching painfully in the process. He slowly lifted his head, feeling utterly drained of all energy as he fixed his exhausted gaze upon the sleeping man – Szayel's skin had returned to its normal pale tone, his cheeks no longer red. His eyelids were fluttering faintly every so often as he remained held in whatever horrifying vision he was being subjected to inside his mind, his chest still rising and falling in slow, steady movements though occasionally slight hitches of breath escaped his lips.

His hair was matted faintly near the ends from the sweat which had broken out on his skin before, and now stray locks were brushing over his face and half-hiding it in shadow. Ichigo sighed, reaching out to press his hand to the man's forehead after carefully removing the damp cloth he had left, and he frowned when he felt how cold the taller man had become.

He didn't know what type of fever this was, but his skin had raged from scorching to almost deathly cold seemingly in the blink of an eye. And what perhaps concerned Ichigo the most was at how suddenly the onset of sickness had occurred. One moment Szayel was fine… the very next second he was delirious.

He cussed under his breath, tightening his free hand over one of the man's own resting by his side. At any rate, he needed to be kept warm.

"I don't know what's going on anymore, Szay." He whispered, his voice hoarse as he carefully pulled the furs back and slid himself in next to his friend, hoping the warmth of his body would be enough to help him. He shivered as the man's frozen skin touched his limbs, but he ignored it as best he could as he pulled the fur back over and wrapped his arms around Szayel's chest and back, burying his head against his neck and pulling him closer.

His eyes closed as he listened to the ever so faint pants coming from Szayel's lips, the man still locked in whatever prison of his mind the fever had brought on him. Ichigo's teeth clenched again and he threaded his fingers through Szayel's own.

"This isn't fair… I don't know what to do." He whispered, tears threatening to pool from his eyes again. He kept them at bay as much as he could, not wanting to lose himself again. He snuggled closer. "I hate it. You're sick… you're never sick. So why? Why now? What happened?" He wasn't expecting an answer, but it soothed him somewhat anyway as he voiced his anguish aloud.

"It's this place… I know it. We should never have come here. We should have just stayed back home. We're trapped here with no one around and there's too many unnatural things going on and it's killing me! I… I can't handle it." He was sobbing now, his voice cracking with raw emotion once again. Hot tears dripped down his cheeks and they pooled gently at the nape of Szayel's neck, the man still unconscious and gasping faintly every so often.

"And now… now that… that  _thing_ is gone… I'm losing my head. I think I'm finally cracking. I just want it to be over…" Ichigo whimpered. He growled faintly in frustration, his hand tightening in Szayel's own as he gripped lax fingers. He opened his eyes, his warm brown irises now reddened and moist with tears. He felt his bottom lip tremble as he gazed at Szayel's face as he slept in fever, his expression almost growing restless through his delirium. Ichigo removed his fingers from the taller man's own and he stroked his pale brow, desperately seeking the last form of comfort he had left.

"Don't leave me…" His words were a broken whisper as he leant up to press his lips to that pale mouth in a chaste, pleading kiss.

He soon fell into a restless sleep to accompany his partner's own – Ichigo's hands tightly clasped over Szayel's.

Unknown to them, silently watching from the shadows across their meagre lodgings, a great feline taller than any other beast of its kind sat poised and alert as its cyan eyes gazed intently at the suffering humans who had imposed upon his temple grounds.

He moved as swiftly and silently as the night, his clawed paws making no noise as he rose from his haunches. His streamlined body rippled with powerful muscle as he prowled – pacing into the blackness of the palms by the riverbed, and soon becoming swallowed by the darkness altogether and leaving behind no trace that he had ever been watching, studying… waiting.

He would return when dawn broke.

* * *

He awoke feeling more drained than when he had before he had slipped off into the unconsciousness of sleep. His eyes were blurred with fitful tears, Ichigo having not stopped crying even when he had been sleeping.

He groaned faintly, unable to remember what it had been that he had dreamt of before waking so suddenly – but he knew it was something he would rather keep hidden forever in the back of his brain if he had woken up with his cheeks still damp. He cussed as he brought up a hand and rubbed his face, cussing still further when the early morning rays of sunlight filtered in through the open doorway and caught his retinas – making Ichigo shield his eyes and turn away to fully gaze at his sleeping friend. He forgot about the sun and he sighed heavily as he saw that Szayel was still locked in fever.

His skin had thankfully regained some more of its former warmth, but his delirium had not passed. Even now as he gazed at pale features drenched faintly with cool sweat, Ichigo felt his heart rip into two. He did his best to help smooth away the perspiration with the cool cloth he leant down to retrieve, the soft sweet scent of lotus flowers assaulting his nostrils and thankfully calming his nerves somewhat in the process. He wiped Szayel's brow, pressing the damp cloth to his cheeks and watching the rivulets of water track down his jaw and neck, some silvery droplets landing in his hair and adding more moisture to his already damp locks.

He sighed when he gazed back at the pink haired man's face. His brows had furrowed again, and Szayel had begun to gasp for air once more. Ichigo brought his hand back up to carefully cup his cheek, his warm brown eyes narrowing as he tried to decide what to do from here. The lotus flower and cool water would only go so far to help keep him at a normal temperature – or as normal as could be for now. But the real problem was within.

He needed proper medicine. The fact that there  _was_ none made his hands clench. He was just about to get up when he was stopped by a faint groan barely audible yet still noticeable from Szayel's throat, and the man winced in his sleep. Ichigo's eyes widened, and he jumped back when he felt the man's skin flush with heat once more.

_Shit!_

He was panicking, his heart racing wildly in his chest as he scrambled from their makeshift bed of stone and furs – the fever had certainly come back, and if he wasn't quick enough to act he didn't know what would happen. Just because the first wave had passed didn't mean that this one wouldn't swing back with full vengeance.

He cussed aloud again, gripping his hair as he scooped up the bowl of water. He needed to get those herbs from last night. He didn't care about the lack of hot water – he would just have to make do with what little they had. Quickly.

He was about to turn on his heel and race out that door when he stopped dead in his tracks, and the loud splash of water and the echoing shatter of clay pierced his ears as the bowl fell from his grip and broke upon the stone floor. Even his loud yell of shock wasn't enough to drown out the hammering of his own heart.

He felt his limbs tremble, and his mouth gaped open.

His eyes widened as he found himself face-to-face with brilliant cyan depths.

For a moment nothing moved – Ichigo's body having lost all ability to as the towering creature simply stared – its feline body slightly taller than the orangette as it stood at a grown man's height, and yet its very presence seemed to cast all else into shadow in the room. Even the air seemed heavy with the unbridled aura of power ebbing in invisible waves off of the creature.

Slopes of muscled limbs were coated in a navy fur, the sun shimmering against the creature's coat and making it glisten in the dawn light. Its paws were large and poised with a distinct grace yet wariness underneath its great body, and its tail hung low and curled against the ground, flicking every so often against its hind legs.

Ichigo felt himself swallow – he could feel the warmth radiating off the beast in front of him, he could feel the energy, the raw  _power_ this thing exuded… it made time seem to come to a still and he felt light-headed.

Its shadow fell upon him and he stumbled, unable to tear himself away – unable to free himself from before it. Because no matter how much he tried to take in the streamlined body of this hunter, no matter how much he marvelled with disturbed awe at the unnatural  _size_ of the beast – his eyes were always drawn back to one place.

And those were the endless cyan pools of the panther's irises, framed by teal markings of fur jutting towards its flattened ears. It was almost as if…

Ichigo tried to shake that thought from his mind. It was impossible. That creature they had seen in the sanctuary was stone. It was carved. He had felt it – had touched the smooth surface of the lapis lazuli and marvelled at its coolness and expert craftsmanship.

This… thing… in front of him…

Was  _real_.

He flinched when the beast's maw curled back, parting leathery lips to reveal sharp arrays of pointed teeth as long as his fingers, and the feline's warm breath puffed against his chest as the animal lowered its head. Ichigo gazed with unblinking eyes – the orangette frozen in his horrified stupor – as the beast simply sat itself down on its haunches, the faint tracks of dirt and dust on the ground blowing up with the movement of its tail as it curled it around itself. The creature remained silent, yet continued staring intently at the terrified man.

It gave no intention that it was about to attack him. Rather it just seemed happy to sit… as if waiting for something.

Ichigo tried to ignore how startlingly reminiscent the creature's pose now was to that of when it was cast in stone at the sanctuary.

He blinked, seeming to become roused out of his stupor as those thoughts pushed at his mind.

When it was cast in stone? He almost shook his head.

No. That was impossible. There was no way this thing could have been… been…  _that_. Some thieves or animals had made off with the carving in the night and this just happened to be a beast which was part of a pack that lived in this area and the two archaeologists had been encroaching on its territory.

That was all it was. That was what he tried to tell himself.

He knew he was wrong.

He didn't have any time to debate that thought as he was drawn back to the present by something low, deep and gravelly which washed over his ears, sounding in the air. He sucked in a sharp breath, slowly raising his gaze to lock brown eyes fearfully into captivating cyan. Cyan eyes which held a supreme intelligence and knowledge within their unmelting depths. And age. This creature… was centuries upon centuries old. He didn't know why or how he knew… he just did.

He was roused again when that same deep grumble sounded, and it took the orange haired man a while to realise it came from the beast in front of him. It was growling softly, and Ichigo could only stare transfixed as it lowered its mighty head yet again and fixed its solemn gaze upon something close by Ichigo's feet.

Ichigo followed the panther's stare and felt an audible gasp leave his lips when he found himself gazing upon a small clay bowl settled near his toes. It wasn't the bowl he had dropped when he turned around and found himself facing this creature – he could see the shattered fragments of clay all over the ground nearby. No… this bowl was different, and in its sunken centre it carried an array of herbs which had been stewed in hot water – the curls of vapour visible even to Ichigo's eyes from where he was standing.

He felt eyes trained on him and he titled his head up sharply to see the beast watching him – its cyan irises unblinking. Satisfied it had grabbed the orangette's attention once again it then lifted its head and in a quick motion jerked it towards the direction of the feverish man on the bed, Szayel still gasping faintly.

When he followed the creature's gaze he almost fell to the ground, realising that whilst he had been distracted, Szayel had still been suffering. He cussed, offering a hurried "thank you" to the beast and not pausing to even question  _why_ he had done such a thing as he picked up the bowl of hot herbs, resettling himself next to Szayel's side and holding the clay in his grasp. He paused then, noticing that the herbs in this bowl were not the ones he had set out to retrieve last night.

They looked entirely different in fact. He swallowed nervously, unable to ignore Szayel's weak moans of pain but also unable to determine how he should handle something he was not familiar with. He cast a despairing glance to the panther who had resumed watching him intently, as if he was somehow seeking some kind of aid from the beast.

To his surprise yet strangely enough not horror, the beast returned the gaze, holding Ichigo's eyes captive with its own before sweeping that otherworldly gaze towards the man on the bed, its blue irises softening with what could only be pain.

Ichigo was almost taken aback at how  _human_ that look had been… perhaps it was because of this he didn't flinch when he saw jaws open and the creature's lips move, words falling from its maw in a voice which would forever hold Ichigo captive just as much as those eyes – low and rough, deep like a wild purr. It was familiar sounding – and he found himself trusting it completely.

"Make him drink. The herbs will still his fever. Hurry – otherwise it will only get worse."

Ichigo did as he was told, his hands moving almost of their own accord – his brain far too numb to comprehend what he had just seen and heard. He nodded, carefully wrapping one arm around Szayel's back and reaching up to thread fingers softly through pink locks. He eased Szayel's head up and with his free hand pressed the tip of the bowl to the man's pale and parted lips. The medicine trickled down into his mouth, small droplets faintly dripping down his chin, but Ichigo ignored that in favour of seeing to that after Szayel had taken the drink.

A low groan fell from those now-moistened lips, and Ichigo's heart lurched painfully when amber eyes fluttered open the tiniest sliver before snapping back shut as the pink haired male rolled back into unconsciousness once more. Ichigo sighed, placing the bowl down on the ground and carefully dabbing the edge of his shirt sleeve against the stray tracks of water against the man's pale chin, and he gingerly settled him back against the furs.

He breathed a lengthy sigh of pained relief when those whimpers ceased again after minutes of agonising waiting, and his chest rose and fell in controlled, considerably calmer movements. Whatever had been in that concoction seemed to have proven effective for the meantime, and Ichigo turned around to thank the creature once again – but froze when he was met with nothing but the wall before him.

The beast had disappeared yet again.

Unrestrained fear boiled away in Ichigo's chest and he cussed sharply, panic flaring once more like it had for Szayel's affliction. He looked back at the fevered man, stroking a pale cheek comfortingly and bending down to place a soft kiss to his brow – a whispered promise that he would be back soon passing his lips as he stood up and dusted himself off, already making to exit their refuge in search of the monstrous feline.

Normally he wouldn't leave Szayel like that, but this time he felt an odd sense that he could trust the panther's judgement. Those herbs were working – and working quickly at that – and Ichigo felt with overwhelming relief that his fever would abate soon. Just as the beast had said it would.

He would be back to check on him soon anyway, and sparing a last glance at his resting partner he turned on his heel and quickly stepped out into the golden sunlight of a late morning. He shielded his eyes from the fields of light, blinking away the spots in his vision as his warm brown eyes gazed desperately around him.

He caught movement by the riverbank out of the corner of his vision and he almost cried out in relief when he saw the panther had not disappeared without a trace like he had before – the feline instead lying down and resting its head on its fore legs as they crossed in front of him, the cat lounging in a relaxed posture by the riverbed and gazing calmly at the water as it rippled before its eyes.

Ichigo raced up towards it, only pausing in his steps when the beast opened a cyan eye lazily to regard him in a reminiscently typical feline fashion. Almost as if it was expecting the orangette to follow. Ichigo didn't doubt that in the slightest.

It continued to watch as the man approached, Ichigo fidgeting nervously as he paused some few feet away, his eyes taking in the size of the creature and feeling his mouth gape open once again.

He was roused out of his thoughts by a deep rumbling sound, not a purr or a growl, but carrying a tremoring tone almost as if it was laughter. He snapped his gaze back over to the beast and saw its maw pulled apart in what was the spitting image of a grin, its teeth white and large. Ichigo felt dazed, a shiver running down his spine.

"Stand closer if you still fail to think I'm real." The panther merely said, its grin never fading and its eyes twinkling with what could only be amusement. Its tail flicked lazily at the ground beside it, as if beckoning Ichigo to take the feline up on its offer.

Ichigo blinked, shaking his head but somehow finding himself approaching anyway – his breath catching in his throat when the cat let out a pleased grumble of approval. It turned its mighty head back out towards the river, closing its eyes as it basked in the sunlight. Ichigo felt the warmth radiating from the creature's body, his steps having taken him within a few feet of its reclining limbs. He felt dazed again, and his eyes trailed over the muscled body of the hunter, eyeing the way the sun's rays seemed to dance off its navy blue coat as it shone with light.

He blinked, turning his own head to gaze out at the riverbed. The lotus flowers sailed by.

"You have many questions. I can almost smell them forming in that brain of yours." The cat spoke up, its low purr of a voice as liquid smooth as the water they were facing.

Ichigo sighed, tilting his head back and closing his eyes as the sunlight washed over him.

"Yeah… mainly along the lines of why the hell is a cat talking to me and what the hell happened to make me go this crazy? Or what  _didn't_ happen…" He muttered. The panther opened a great cyan eye and gazed up at the orange haired man, Ichigo missing the soft look crossing the feline's expressive features.

"Reality is nothing but our own perceptions." It merely purred, a rumbling sound remarkably close to a chuckle building in its throat when Ichigo fixed a wary gaze down at the panther.

"Great… then I really  _am_ crazy." He grumbled. Despite himself he couldn't help the slight quirk of his lips in response to the wide grin which reformed itself on the cat's jaws.

"If you say so. Perhaps the more you tell yourself that the more you will end up believing it, whether it be true or not." The panther replied, its shoulders rising and falling in an action reminiscent of a shrug.

Ichigo sighed, feeling fatigue wash over him.

"I didn't come here to debate philosophy with you." He grunted out. The cat refixed a cyan eye on the man. Its expression was now serious. Ichigo almost took a step back.

"Then what  _did_  you come here for?" It asked, its deep voice quiet. Ichigo fell silent.

That… was a good question.

He sighed, glancing solemnly over the riverbed.

"To be honest… I don't know." He murmured softly. He heard movement and he looked up in time to see the panther shifting its position, the feline now seated back on its haunches and tilting its head to the side in cat-like curiosity. Its deep blue gaze was now gentle, all traces of its smile gone. It waited, as if silently pressing the man to explain. Ichigo fell victim to those irresistible blue eyes once again, and sighed.

"You helped my friend… you brought those herbs for him, didn't you?" He whispered. The cat inclined its head, its eyes closing in an expression of affirmation. Ichigo felt himself give a small smile.

"Thank you…"

The panther reopened its eyes and merely gazed intently back on the man standing next to him, its intelligent gaze filled with understanding. He didn't know why – but the human-like actions and words, the  _expressions_ given by this animal… Ichigo knew the beast was something more. Something much more. There was a great secret about this feline… and he felt that in due time it would reveal itself.

As if guessing Ichigo's train of thought, the creature elicited a deep whisper of a sigh, its head turning back towards the riverbank.

"Your friend read the words Osiris had inscribed to bind me in stone. They carried a curse and he is suffering its effects." It explained, its voice a harsh growl. It was almost as if it sounded angry.

Ichigo's eyes widened.

"What?!" He gasped. The panther quickly found his gaze again.

"He will survive. Though when he wakes up it will be with memories he would have wished were left forgotten." It answered, its voice that same low growl of anger. Anger and regret. Ichigo felt his heart lurch painfully. The creature looked sad. Sad beyond any words Ichigo could articulate. That expression cut through to him like a knife – because he knew the exact same look of heartbreak adorned his own face at that moment.

"… What kind of memories?" He whispered. The cat's expression grew hard.

"You will eventually discover that for yourself." It answered, its voice barely a hiss. Ichigo froze.

"What… what do you mean by that?" He stammered. The panther released another rumbling sigh. It appeared to not wish to elaborate, and Ichigo didn't know if it was the connotations behind the feline's words or the fact that it was something which appeared taboo in some way which scared him more.

So he changed the subject – desperately hoping that Szayel would be alright.

"You said you were bound… so you really  _were_ the carving we saw? And then… that…" He paused, not wanting to say 'curse'. Cyan eyes gazed back up at him, and the expression in those intelligent orbs confirmed everything Ichigo had to know.

He exhaled sharply, hoping he wouldn't collapse and vomit. His head felt dizzy and entirely overwhelmed.

" _How?_ " He whispered. "How are you alive?"

The panther shifted to spring lightly to its feet, its huge paws making not a sound against the sand as it stretched its monstrous limbs. It turned its gaze to Ichigo again, the feline striding forwards to walk past the watching orangette. Ichigo caught a scent like lotus from the beast, and that combined with the warmth of its body heat as it passed by made him calm ever so slightly. It felt nostalgic in a way…

"Did you forget what was written?" The quiet rumble from the panther's chest made Ichigo blink and refocus his attention, the man's orange brows crinkling faintly in concentration as he thought back over the words Szayel had read from the hieroglyphs in the sanctuary.

"Well, no but…" And with that Ichigo's words died on his tongue. He glanced slowly up at the feline, seeing the beast's expression morphing into a grim smile, its lips curling back to reveal rows of sharp teeth once more.

"You were a traitor…" He breathed, horror slowly flooding his senses. He had forgotten some of what the curse had said with all the excitement of the previous day, but now it was slowly coming back.

The feline's nose crinkled and it snorted.

"I'm no more a traitor than you were, Ichigo." It answered, its gravelly tone sounding derisive and darkly amused.

Ichigo blinked, his eyes narrowing at what the beast had said and he was about to retort with a harsh demand for it to explain just what the hell it had meant by that when he stopped.

"… How do you know my name?"

The beast's lips pulled back into a wider smirk. Its expression was now prideful, as if it revelled in the information it was about to divulge to the human before it. It strode forwards, its steps still not making a sound, and it paused when it was standing within a few feet from Ichigo's face yet again. It was so close – close enough for Ichigo to reach out and touch if he so desired, and he could feel the soft puffs of breath against his skin as the creature breathed. He suppressed a soft shiver, trying to stand his ground against this creature for a while longer. It was hard to with the way those eyes searched his though.

Cyan eyes softened.

"I know all about you," it began, its voice somehow soothing to the orangette, "I know the day you were born, I know your parents and your siblings. I know how many years you have lived in this life, and how many more you will from this point on. I know your struggles and your hopes and desires, and I know of the paths and dangers you suffered in reaching my temple here, and the price you paid because of it. And of course, I know all about your friend too, for he is as bound to me as you are. In time, you shall both awaken to the lives you lived before, but that day is not yet. I have waited a millennia for you to come to me – another millennia is meaningless to wait further until you are both ready." It finished.

A stunned silence fell across the pair, not even broken by the laps of the river against the bank behind them.

Ichigo was speechless.

Out of everything, he found that all his brain could fathom were the last words that left the feline's lips.

"A… millennia?"

The panther smiled.

"Time means nothing to a god."

* * *

Pale lips moved, pink brows creased and furrowed as soft gasps fell from his lips – the sounds sharp and hitched as if he were in pain. Soundless mumbles fell from his mouth, as the visions plaguing him day and night reformed and tore at his mind.

A silent scream of despair – of heart-wrenching agony – built up in his throat, yet he made no more than a tortured whimper. His chest rose and fell as quickly as his fever raged – and amber eyes wide with horror snapped open just as the death before him, around him, consuming him faded before his very sight.

His lips trembled, his voice hoarse and cracked with emotion. A tear fell down his cheek.

"M... aa… hes…"

* * *

Ichigo had bowed his head, his teeth gritting tightly together as he fisted his hands through his hair. He felt completely overwhelmed, unable to comprehend what it was he had heard.

He knew this creature, this panther was the traitor god this temple was dedicated to. He knew that he had been bound in stone – his name and powers stripped. He knew that he was set to awaken when those whom he had lost had returned. He  _knew_ all this because Szayel had just told him only yesterday, dammit!

But…

He inhaled a shaky breath.

_It doesn't make sense…_

"Are you… saying you've waited a millennia… just specifically for us? For Szayel and me?" His voice was hoarse, his brown eyes despairing as he eventually locked gazes with the panther before him. He'd lost all sense of nervousness, of awe the longer he had been speaking with him. The more they talked the more he had found himself becoming at ease.

Now he was able to look into those cyan depths without feeling himself falling. Rather, it was now like they were holding him steady and embracing him with their understanding.

The feline sighed, stepping closer so its head was near Ichigo's. It closed its great eyes, inclining its neck and butting its head gently against Ichigo's brows – pausing and remaining standing there as if content with this small amount of contact. Ichigo felt the feline's warmth wash over him as the soft fur of his body touched him, and he too closed his eyes when he slowly allowed himself to calm. He pressed back gently against the creature's head, his eyes sliding closed and shaken breaths parting his lips.

He hated feeling so emotional.

He hated it more when the next words to part the feline's lips made him hurt even worse.

"Yes."

Ichigo's breath hitched and he couldn't help himself – he reached out and buried his hands in the hot warmth of the panther's fur; he ran his hands over the silken smooth bristles and wrapped his arms as much as he could around its neck, holding it closer and trying to somehow comfort it. He didn't know why – but he knew that the beast was hurting deep within. He could see it in those cyan eyes. The way it had looked so solemn the entire time they had been speaking… and especially when it was bound in stone. He had been right when he had thought the beast was sad. Having to wait so long to be freed from its prison, having to wait so long separated from two others the beast clearly had some strong connection to… the ache of this fallen god's soul bled right through into his eyes, and Ichigo now realised why he was constantly drawn to them.

He was roused out of his melancholy thoughts when a deep rumble coursed through the feline's chest, and as the panther gently nuzzled its forehead against Ichigo's brow, he knew it was purring. The display of clear gratitude made Ichigo's heart soar, and he tightened his hold in silken fur.

"But why us? … Why not any others? Yo—"

He was left blinking when the panther swiftly jerked away before he could finish his sentence.

Ichigo's expression was stunned, his eyes wide as he tried to question what was wrong, but he abruptly paused when he saw the feline's eyes widen, the creature's head turned as it focused on something behind them.

"Maa… hes…"

Ichigo's head shot up at that voice – instantly recognisable even though it was strained and hoarse beyond all description. He cussed when he heard dragging footsteps and he turned his head to see none other than Szayel approaching, the man gripping his arms weakly with his hands, his shirt open and clinging to his damp body as he struggled to walk. His hair was hiding most of his face, but Ichigo saw the determination in amber eyes – their gold colour almost livid.

He rushed forwards, wrapping his arms around the taller man and trying to hold him still – he threaded his fingers through matted pink locks and held him by the waist, his brown eyes wavering when those amber eyes locked on him intently – their gaze incredibly sharpened for someone who was still evidently fighting fever.

"Szay… what the hell are you doing?! You need to rest, you're still sick!" He hissed. He saw a faint smile form on pale lips, and the man tried to shake his head.

"'M… fine…" He panted. Ichigo's eyes narrowed.

"No you're not!"

Szayel ignored him, clinging weakly to Ichigo for support as he swivelled his gaze to land on the panther which was still looking at him intently – those cyan eyes were narrowed, almost as if the beast was agreeing wholeheartedly with Ichigo's concern for the pink haired man.

If Szayel showed any disbelief at the creature ahead of them, he didn't show it outwardly. In fact, Ichigo couldn't help but notice that his friend didn't appear to be fazed at all. It was almost as if… he had been expecting this.

He pushed that confused thought out of his mind when the man moved his dry lips to speak again.

"I remember." He announced, the words barely audible yet somehow they carried along the wind with crystal clarity in that courtyard. The panther's gaze had sharpened, and it approached slowly. To Ichigo it seemed a long-dead hope had rekindled the old fires in those cyan eyes, before it was quickly quenched and returned to normal, as if not wanting to believe...

"You… look worse as of late… Maahes." Szayel again whispered, a dry pained chuckle accompanying his words. Ichigo's confusion soared. He glanced from one to the other, uncertain as to anything that was going on anymore. He narrowed his eyes warily when the beast ahead of them remained silent for a moment – and then its lips formed a grim smile.

"I can say the same for you. You knew what unlocking my bindings would do to you, did you not, Nefertem?" It answered, its gravelly voice amused.

By now Ichigo was dumbstruck.

"Szay… what… what's going on here? Please… tell me…" He mumbled, his fingers curling through damp pink locks. Szayel simply tightened his hold around the orangette. His amber eyes had narrowed at the panther, and his expression grew dark.

"Don't call me that." He all but hissed at the beast, still ignoring Ichigo for now.

A rumble coursed through the panther's chest as it approached, the beast throwing its head back in laughter. It rippled through the air, sounding like a storm in summer. When it fixed its solemn gaze back on the pair, Ichigo saw the pain in its eyes. He swallowed thickly.

"You'll have to embrace it at some point, Szayelaporro. You can't simply try to forget what has awoken in your mind. Memories are a painful thing. Get used to them." The creature spoke, its voice now soft like the wind over the Nile.

Before either of them could continue, Ichigo had grit his teeth.

"Someone tell me what's going on!" He cried out. He almost bit his lip in apology when cyan and amber eyes locked on him calmly. Szayel straightened himself a little more, still holding onto Ichigo for support gently. He closed his eyes and drew in a shaky breath.

"It was on the tomb walls as we were walking here… I saw a mural…" He muttered, his voice gradually gaining strength as he spoke. "As you know... it wasn't just him who was a traitor… it was all three of them."

Ichigo felt his breath hitch and Szayel opened his eyes to gaze knowingly down at the orangette. Beside them the panther had begun to circle them, its gaze full of mournful hatred as the words left the fevered man's lips. Szayel continued.

"There was a war… a millennia ago. Seth had sought to murder Osiris… but had failed when three gods protected him from harm. The leader was Maahes, and he was flanked by two others – Nefertem and Shesmu… they were his partners, his colleagues and his brethren. Seth feared them, deep down… he knew that three gods united would be able to overthrow him, but he wanted revenge… and when their guard was let down and Maahes had his back turned he approached the two others and he… he killed them." Szayel's breath had hitched, and his lips trembled – almost as if the words dealt him great physical and emotional pain. His expression was haunted. Ichigo was silent, and he held onto his friend tightly. The panther continued its pacing, a low growl of anger rippling from its chest.

Szayel took a shuddering breath and he buried his head against Ichigo's neck when he continued.

"The gods didn't interfere with Seth's slaughter of the two… the three together had already been branded as traitors when it was discovered they had formed a relationship which was deemed unhealthy and unnatural in the eyes of their kin. But… Maahes was furious. There was so much blood… so much death… everything turned red…" He fell silent and he couldn't continue. Ichigo felt his lip tremble, his chest feeling painfully tight. He squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face in silken pink locks, holding the other to him almost desperately.

He didn't want to ask his next question – but he had to know.

"What… did he do?" He croaked out. The panther stopped pacing.

"I tore his head off and devoured his soul." He growled, his voice carrying with it the power and violence of the ocean thundering mercilessly against a rocky cliff. The unrestrained anger, hurt and sorrow in the feline's voice made both men gaze at the beast as he stood, facing them. His eyes held the fury of a thousand years of hatred.

"He took away those who meant the most to me. He slaughtered them, and I didn't stop until there was nothing left of him to find. I wanted the sand to bathe in his blood for what he had done. I wanted the river to turn to poison – I wanted  _death_. I killed him. And I was stripped of my power and bound in stone." He finished on a low gravelly laugh – the sound mirthless and filled with loathing. He resumed his pacing, his tail low as he circled the two archaeologists once more.

"Isis was the only one to show mercy. She saw Seth's actions as unjustified – no one had so dared as touch a fellow god, let alone murder one of their own in cold blood before. So as my kin were taking their last breaths, she collected their souls and scattered them into the earth below. She spoke to me… before Osiris had his will carried out and I was captured. She said that one day they would return to me… and their memories, and my power, would reawaken."

There was a long silence. Szayel had closed his eyes, his mind burning with the memories of long ago. He felt like he would collapse, but he willed himself to remain standing. It hurt… it carved away at his heart as he listened to the god speak and complete the tale, it tore at his soul to bear witness to Maahes' anger and sorrow once more… but he refused to accept the knowledge, the memories that had reformed in his long-sleeping mind. It was too sudden… and Ichigo had still not remembered.

Only when that happened would he embrace the truth of his real name and the power that even now he could feel returning to him as he strengthened. But until then… he would refuse it.

Ichigo on the other hand was feeling despair claw away at his mind. He reached up a free hand and rubbed his eyes, sighing heavily. When he opened his eyes again, their brown depths were focused and clear – though burdened.

"So you're saying… that Szay and me… have the souls of your fallen companions? And you were freed when we came here? And part of this… curse laid on you… was that we would remember our pasts from long ago?" He questioned, his voice calm. Maahes cocked his head to the side in a display of feline intrigue.

"Yes. However… that's not entirely true."

Ichigo blinked, his brows furrowing warily as he gazed at the panther in confusion. The feline's lips pulled back into another wide smile.

"You don't just have the souls of my fallen kin. Rather, you  _are_  my lost brethren – Nefertem and Shesmu in the flesh. Your mannerisms, your appearances, your scent… everything." He answered, his voice a lazy purr of content. Ichigo was dumbfounded.

"But… that's… I mean… no. You have to be mistaken… we… we had lives… we went to college and we had families and siblings and…" Ichigo's weak attempts at reason quickly faded when he saw the amusement only spread further over the panther's face.

"Your duality of thoughts is also just like you, Shesmu. Split in nature, a dealer of death alongside me and yet a protector of the ones you are fiercely loyal to… you fight to keep reason but your heart yearns otherwise. Surely you must have realised by now that the human lives you and Nefertem were forced to lead was on the command of Isis herself? That reality was merely a shell to house the broken fragments of your minds. Think of it – if you were both simply mere humans, then how were you able to free me? And how was your friend here able to fight back and overcome the fever which would have stricken any mortal with death immediately?" He sighed, his purring rumble of a voice now low and quiet; sad once again. Szayel had remained silent, his arms still gripping Ichigo tightly as he bit his lip.

Ichigo tried to make himself believe this, tried to make himself understand the words the god had spoken to him. But no matter how hard he wanted to… there was still one thing nagging at the back of his brain.

"If that's true… then why can't I remember?" He asked quietly.

He locked conflicted brown eyes on deep cyan, and he didn't even flinch when Maahes had strode towards him and pressed his forehead back to the orangette's. Ichigo could see the pain in those blue eyes, and he felt himself falling into that gaze for not the first time. He reached up to press his hand to the panther's cheek, gently stroking along his warm fur as the beast closed his brilliant eyes.

"Because you were the last to die… so you shall be the last to reawaken." He simply purred, his gravelly voice as sorrowful as his gaze. Ichigo should have felt fear, he should have felt disconcerted and frightened of such a response – but instead he sighed, nodding and leaning into the panther's neck as the feline nuzzled his great head against the side of Ichigo's cheek.

He knew that he was referring to Shesmu's and Nefertem's defeat at the hands of Seth – and he was feeling far too fatigued to question anything else about the situation he and Szayel now found themselves in. Whatever was going on… he knew that it wasn't a made up figment of his tormented mind. This was really happening.

Strangely enough he found himself settling somewhat at ease the more he mulled that around in his head. The warmth of the panther's fur and the calming purr as he voiced his content served to still Ichigo's nerves and settle him down – Szayel also contributing as he rubbed the orangette's back comfortingly in a soothing motion.

Szayel closed his amber eyes when Maahes had moved to rest his great head on the pink haired man's shoulder, the feline's lips moving by the man's ear and sending a soft shiver through the man's slim frame.

"Make sure you get rest. The both of you." The panther murmured, his deep voice soft. Szayel could only nod – the feline moving to butt his forehead against Szayel's own and nuzzle his own cheek before pulling away and prowling towards the riverbank.

"In the end our fate is the same. I cannot leave here until my final judgement has passed, and you are both unable to return. We'll speak more tomorrow. For now, take food and shelter. A storm is coming on the horizon." Maahes had risen his voice, his words falling over their ears and lulling them into action when his body crouched down, his head raising and his maw parting to reveal his sharpened teeth in all their frightening glory. A roar unlike any other the two had ever heard fell from his lips – the air and ground seeming to tremble with the ferocity of its volume.

It spoke of power, of unbridled authority as the sky answered and blackened clouds formed overhead, cutting off the sun and making the world freeze with the lack of light. Szayel and Ichigo gasped and almost tripped over one another as they raced towards the safety of their lodgings – the pair gazing with awestruck faces as thunder rumbled and lightning crackled and scorched the horizon, tearing apart the atmosphere with white flame.

They could almost smell the electricity in the air as it rained down from above – and they drew their arms tighter around one another when shivering cold mixed with the heat of lightning. Rain fell down, thick droplets the size of coins – slowly at first, but then had increased to a frightening downpour which made the river roil and splash with fury against the bank.

And through it all, as they could only stare transfixed as nature answered the panther's cry, they saw the god standing proudly before them – his cyan eyes raised to the heavens and his teeth bared as if in promise. He turned his head and saw their gazes upon him, and a wide grin split across his face. He lowered himself and then launched forth from his haunches, tearing into a sprint down the bank, his steps faster than any they had ever seen from animal or human. The last thing they saw before the beast became lost to the horizon was its tail and hind legs disappearing in the dense foliage of palms.

The rain continued to fall, and the thunder and lightning swirled with anger high above. It was some time until either of them dared to speak.

"What was that?" Ichigo breathed. Szayel's arm tightened around his shoulders.

"I think he's slowly regaining his power. He told the gods he's returned." The pink haired man answered, his voice thick with awe.

Ichigo blinked, about to question how the other knew that but then paused as he caught the gaze in amber eyes. It was almost as if Szayel was witnessing something he hadn't seen in a long time. His eyes were locked in a gaze of nostalgia.

Allowing a faint frown to cross his face, Ichigo sighed, turning his head to face the sky once again. If he was meant to remember his past, then he supposed he would in his own due time. All he could do for now was focus on what he had learnt, and try and find out more about the mysterious panther god – and just what it was about the three of them and their connection which had caught Seth's wrath in the first place.

* * *

The next day had come, and the day after that – the storms having long-since ceased and left the sky clear during day and night. The days were warm and the nights were mostly cool – the palms rustling gently with the sway of the wind.

They had awoken from their slumber each morning to be greeted with the sight of the panther curled upon the ground before them – Maahes refusing to part by their sides. Szayel and Ichigo had greatly welcomed it, the two finding comfort in rising to see the great body of the god close by, his warmth soothing them and the gentle purring of his breath as he slept stirring fond emotions within the two.

At night Ichigo had grown more restless in his sleep, but he was always greeted with soft words as Szayel stroked a hand through his hair, the man imparting a soft kiss to his lips and soothing the orangette back into rest against the pale man's chest. Maahes would watch, his eyes narrowing in thoughtful contemplation. He suspected something, yet was not willing to voice his thoughts just yet.

They would spend their days simply talking – learning all there was to know about the panther god. He would happily answer them, often asking questions of his own regarding their human lives, to which Szayel and Ichigo would respond with equal enthusiasm. Yet despite the greater ease they had fallen into around one another, the pair would both avoid asking questions that seemed to stir a swift change in conversation from the panther when they were asked. The pair had quickly discovered these were the questions relating to their connection with the animal, and what exactly this relationship was which had seemed so unsightly in their kinsman's eyes to warrant Seth attacking them in the first place. Whilst Szayel had fully recovered from his fever and had obtained much of his lost memories, there were still others which had not yet formed – and so he was unable to provide a response for those questions either. Ichigo had still not regained any memories at all. As much as he wanted to ask Szayel about what it was he had remembered, the pink haired man's answer would always be the same – he refused to acknowledge them until Ichigo had regained his own. It would be less painful that way. Ichigo had sighed and left it at that.

It was the fifth day of their arrival at the temple where the three had found themselves basking in a grove of palm trees, some hour's walk from the temple grounds. Maahes had guided them there, Szayel and Ichigo gazing around them in awe as they walked pristine paths of stone – ibis and falcons watching them with their sharp gazes before returning to their daily rituals of hunting or searching for food.

It was a detached land from the temple itself, and they could see the golden tips of small pyramids rising high in the sand dunes far away. Ichigo frowned thoughtfully as he gazed at them, yearning for pen and paper so he could draw them as they sat in the shade. The day was warm, and the trickling brook of the river nearby was relaxing on the ears.

"It's beautiful here." Szayel breathed in awe as he tilted his head back against the trunk of the palm tree he was sitting against. Maahes gave a purr of content, nodding his head as he strode over to curl himself down beside the two. The two men smiled and laughed as the feline decided he wasn't happy – and he instead took to rising and slumping himself lazily down across both of their outstretched legs, a rumbling chuckle elicited from his throat when they both teasingly made to push him away.

The warmth of his body seemed to course through their very own limbs, and the two men simply smiled as they gazed back out across the horizon.

"This is the furthest I've been able to come outside the temple." Maahes spoke, resting his head across his fore legs which were seated over Ichigo's lap, the beast gazing curiously at the horizon himself.

Szayel and Ichigo exchanged briefly confused glances.

"How come?" Ichigo asked. Maahes gave a rumbling purr of consideration.

"This is where my land ended. As part of my punishment time had been brought to a standstill around my temple grounds, preserving it as it was before I had been imprisoned. You were right to believe that this place shouldn't have existed in your human time. It didn't, and it doesn't now." He replied.

Szayel and Ichigo looked at each other.

"So would anyone else have been able to find this place if they'd entered that tomb?" Szayel spoke up, his brows crinkling in thought. Maahes flicked his tail lazily by the slender man's legs, playfully curling it around the man's waist. Szayel's lips quirked into a slight grin at this.

"No. This temple is a work of the gods, and only a god would have the privilege of seeing it." Maahes answered. This really  _did_ make both men freeze and gape at each other.

The panther caught this, his laugh rumbling through his chest as he eyed their reactions.

"That in itself is self-explanatory, don't you think?" He chuckled. The two men didn't reply. Ichigo reached out, absentmindedly laying his hand to the panther's ear and stroking the soft fur along its flattened surface. Maahes purred in content and his cyan eyes closed, his tail still wrapping comfortingly around Szayel's waist whilst he nuzzled his head into Ichigo's touch.

"So not even the murals in the tomb? The lion portraits? None of it? No one else would be able to see what we saw?" Szayel blinked, his mind still trying to come to terms with this. Maahes lifted his head and he tilted his gaze to stare at the pink haired man.

"Lion portraits?" He questioned. Szayel and Ichigo glanced at one another and then back to the god before them.

"Well… yeah. To be honest we were kind of surprised to see you carved as a panther. Further on in the tomb you were only depicted as a lion. And so were Nefertem and Shesmu a couple of times." Ichigo replied, furrowing his brow in the process.

Maahes threw his head back and loud, mirthful laughter rumbled from his lips. The other two failed to see what was so funny.

"A lion? That's a new one." Maahes snorted, his gaze prideful as he stretched his muscled feline form.

"You mean to say you weren't one then? I thought that was what the curse meant when it said your powers were stripped. You were changed from a lion to a panther." Ichigo blinked. Maahes focused his brilliant blue eyes upon the orangette, that familiar wild grin back in place upon his lips.

"I have never been, and will never be one of those lesser creatures." He chuckled. "Might I ask you to consult your history books, Ichigo? Who was it who worked on temples and tombs?"

Ichigo blinked again.

"Workers, obviously…" He answered, his voice flat. Maahes shot him a knowing feline smirk.

"And did they ever encounter a god before? A  _real_ god? In all their full power and glory?" He pressed. Ichigo scratched his head.

"Well, no…"

Maahes chuckled again.

"That's correct. And so they would carve pictures and give words to names they knew nothing of. They saw a creature they respected or feared and they immediately linked a god to that creature. The gods were real of course, but we're nothing as lowly as  _animals_. We're just as human looking as the rest of your humankind." He answered, purring in content again when Ichigo's fingers had resumed stroking his ear.

Ichigo felt his mind go numb.

"But… you're…"

Maahes sighed.

"I'm in this form now because this was the result of my powers being taken from me. I was once like you both. Perhaps when my powers fully reawaken I shall regain my true appearance, but for now it's quite amusing being like this. And that stroking of yours feels lovely, by the way."

Ichigo felt his cheeks flush and he scowled at the considerably cheeky smirk forming on the panther's lips in response.

"I knew you were more human than a simple bloody housecat." He grumbled. Maahes threw his great head back in laughter again.

"If you're so eager to know what I looked like, ask your friend here. Your memories surely should have recovered that much if you remembered that battle, Szayel?" He rumbled, casting his gaze upon the man in question, who had remained silent throughout all of this. Ichigo also looked at him, searching the pink haired man's face.

Szayel looked like he was about to reply, but his mouth closed again. Ichigo didn't know whether to be amused or slightly exasperated when he simply cocked his head to the side, a slow smirk spreading over his pale lips.

"They did indeed. I must say I prefer you as a simple bloody housecat." He snickered. Maahes rolled his great cyan eyes and kicked his hind leg out to dig it into the man's hip, only making Szayel laugh harder in response.

Ichigo couldn't hide the grin which formed on his face as he tilted his head back and closed his eyes, inhaling deeply as the fragrant air breezed past and blew across his cheeks.

He had lost count of the days that had passed since the cave-in, and slowly he had learnt to let go of his grief. He didn't know whether or not he should have been concerned that not once through all this had he spared a thought for his family back home… in fact… as he trained his thoughts on his family… he found that he had a hard time even envisioning their faces anymore. He even felt… empty… inside.

He sighed heavily.

Was this a sign he was about to gain his lost memories?

He could still remember their names at least… Isshin… Karin… Yuzu…

"Maahes..." He mumbled. The panther lifted his head.

"Hm?"

"Did you ever have a name? Or was 'Maahes' the name your worshippers gave you?" He didn't know why this question had sprung up so suddenly inside his mind, but he found it appropriate to ask anyway. The panther looked amused.

"I have always been called Maahes." He replied. "Though I have other names as well. Just as you both do."

Szayel straightened himself up a little.

"You mean aside from the names our human parents gave us?" He queried. The panther nodded. He flexed his fore legs back over Ichigo's lap again, and he laid his head over his front paws.

"You both liked to call me by one name in particular." He rumbled, his tone soft. The two men waited. When it seemed the panther wasn't going to elaborate, they sighed in exasperation.

"And? What did we call you?" Szayel asked, a brow raising. Maahes chuckled.

"Grimmjow." He replied simply.

Szayel's features blanked and he paused, as if mulling the name over in his head. Seeming satisfied with this he nodded, settling back against the tree trunk again. Ichigo meanwhile smiled, the name sparking something nostalgic within his chest. Almost like it was home.

"Would you mind if we still called you that?" He asked. The panther lazily flicked his tail again, purring once more in content peace.

"I'd love it." He rumbled.

Ichigo's grin widened and he sighed again, closing his eyes. The sun was warm and made him feel lethargic – and before he had known it he had fallen asleep with his head against Szayel's shoulder, his hand falling down against Grimmjow's flank. The panther stirred slightly, tilting his head to nuzzle his nose against the orangette's arm and flicking his pale red tongue out to lap at his fingers in a feline display of affection.

Szayel watched quietly, his gaze then turning out to survey the golden-capped pyramids on the horizon. Maahes – or Grimmjow as he would now preferred to be known as to them – had mentioned that they belonged to the priests and pharaohs of his cult, and were buried close to the temple grounds. Of course they didn't know the temple was here as they couldn't see it, but this area had been a prime worshipping ground for all the feline deities.

Szayel and Ichigo had already known that particular aspect of information, as they had been excavating in this area for that reason, but it was still interesting to touch on again nevertheless.

"He seems to be sleeping more often than he should."

Szayel was roused out of his thoughts by Grimmjow's rumbling voice, the panther's volume low as he studied Ichigo carefully. Szayel lowered his gaze to the orange haired man, and he gave a weary sigh.

"You think he's regaining his memories?" He asked quietly. The panther nodded.

"I do. Though whether or not it would be to the degree of your suffering I don't know. It's been five days since you were stricken ill. It would only be right for the power of this place to reawaken him shortly after you, but I'm still surprised it's taken so long…" Grimmjow sighed.

Szayel didn't have an answer. Instead he maintained a warm grip on the sleeping man and reached out his hand to stroke it down the broad muscles of Grimmjow's shoulders, the panther purring softly in appreciation as he closed his cyan eyes.

"You haven't told him why we were outcast and betrayed. Why? He has the right to know." He spoke up, his voice barely more than a whisper. Grimmjow shifted slightly over their laps.

"Because he will find out when his powers return. You did, after all." The cat answered. Szayel ran a hand over his face.

"But I don't understand your hesitation… my memories have almost completely recovered. I think when Ichigo wakes up to who he really is then that's when the last of the cracks in my memory will be filled… but he has a large heart and he clearly cares deeply for us and our wellbeing, along with his. He won't think badly of you for telling him." He pleaded. Grimmjow lifted his head, his eyes narrowed though the look in them was not unkind.

"For  _us?_  He cares for  _you_ , Nefertem. As far as he is concerned, I'm nothing more than a source of faint familiarity. He's known you for all of his human life – it's not a coincidence you two have been so close for all this time. I, on the other hand…" The panther paused, huffing a grumble of a sigh. "He will remember me fully when he awakens. That's all there is to it. I don't want to frighten him by suddenly revealing to him that our crime was our union. For a god to have another god as his or her consort is nothing out of the ordinary, but for one to have two both of the male persuasion... one could say I was being greedy."

A faint smile touched the corners of Szayel's lips.

"And were you?" He questioned. A grin spread across Grimmjow's mouth, and his teeth flashed white.

"Entirely." He answered, sounding satisfied.

Szayel laughed. His smile soon faded when he glanced back down to Ichigo, who was still sleeping against him. The expression in his eyes grew saddened.

"I still think you should tell him now. It will make it less of a shock than if he were to suddenly find out straight after his memories return."

Grimmjow curled his head back over Ichigo's lap.

"I won't. I… fear that he would be against it now. No. I will wait until Shesmu returns to us fully." He answered, his tone final.

Szayel closed his eyes.

"Fine. Have it your way. I just don't want to see the hurt in his eyes when he does." He muttered. Grimmjow's gaze softened.

"He won't be hurting." He rumbled. Szayel frowned slightly and looked back down at the feline.

"What do you mean?" He asked suspiciously. Grimmjow's grin grew.

"He won't be hurting, because the moment you're both fully returned to me I will regain my original form. I plan to give you both all the love that I once did, those millennia ago. Time may have kept me prisoner for so long, but it has done  _nothing_ to quench the yearning I have to feel you under me as I once did."

Szayel was left speechless, and he quickly looked away. His grip tightened ever so gently around Ichigo's shoulders, and his amber eyes swam with deep emotion. Grimmjow closed his cyan orbs, the smile of satisfaction and promise still plastered on his feline lips.

Neither of them knew that through all of this, Ichigo had been awake – merely pretending to sleep soundly.

His heart swelled with gratitude, and his lips quirked into the tiniest of smiles against Szayel's neck, his hand still resting atop Grimmjow's flank.

* * *

He had lost count of how many days it had been since after the fifth. The longer they lived at the temple, with nothing but each other for company, the longer it felt as if the days had melded into one continuous never ending existence.

Days gave way to night, and night faded back into day – Ichigo could no longer estimate how many moons and sunrises they had borne witness to, but he somehow also found that he didn't care. As far as he was concerned, Szayel and Grimmjow  _were_ his night and his day, and as long as he continued to wake up with them close by, he could suffer the agonising wait for his memories to return without slipping into madness.

He never told them he had heard their conversation that one day by the palm grove. He suspected Szayel had known to some extent, by the way the man's body had tensed ever so slightly as if in surprise when Ichigo had smiled against his neck after Grimmjow's determined confession had been voiced aloud. The pink haired man had resettled and calmed straight afterwards, and Ichigo had sworn he had heard a soft chuckle escape his pale lips.

Grimmjow didn't appear to have noticed at all, though the panther's thoughts were still very expertly concealed from them – so the orangette found it impossible to know at this point in time.

He couldn't find it in his heart to be upset at his reasoning though – after all, if this was any other circumstance just suddenly being told he was an ex-god who had been cast into human life for having sex with two other gods certainly would have overwhelmed him to the point where he may have lashed out.

But it didn't. This wasn't any other circumstance, and he found that the notion that they had even been together in such a way at all stirred a long-sleeping fire in his heart which made him all the more eager to remember everything again, just so he could prove to the others that he would never,  _could_ never, think any bad of them. This was clearly what Grimmjow had meant when he said that Ichigo and Szayel had been bound to him in some way – and the orangette found himself delighted beyond words that it was indeed in the way that he had been hoping.

So he remained silent – and his heart continued to glow with happiness.

Night had fallen early one evening, when the three were taking a leisurely stroll by the Nile banks. They had discovered they were able to visit the pyramids they had seen over the horizon by Grimmjow's temple, and it had sparked the passion for discovery within the two archaeologists once again. Grimmjow had merely watched and smiled as he sat by the miniature sphinx guarding the crypt, ignoring the comments that it appeared he had found a long-lost relative by Ichigo and Szayel and returning the light-hearted insult with a humorous quip of his own.

Coming back out with faces bright and eyes glinting, the pair had excitedly recounted to Grimmjow all that they had seen. He had merely thrown his great head back in laughter – being very familiar with the inner workings of pyramids himself he had failed to see what had captured his fellow god's attention so raptly about it, but he felt joy at seeing their faces so animated with sheer unbridled delight.

After all, this was a millennia's worth of knowledge they had missed out on, being shut away from their rightful world. Their chosen career paths and interests in Ancient Egypt – a time they indeed hailed from – was not surprising. Grimmjow felt the age-old stirrings of hatred boil in his stomach for what Seth had done, but he willed himself to focus on the here and now. They had returned to him, and he would no longer have to suffer in sorrow and pain. He had been broken, but now they were helping to make him whole again, just as he was doing in return for them.

It was on this night where, on their stroll, they had paused to gaze at the rising moon above – its silvery rays coating the desert in its calming embrace. The pyramids ahead looked ghostly in the sea of black and white, and the land looked dry and hollow.

The stars overhead were twinkling just as brightly as the moon, and the three couldn't help but marvel at the natural beauty before them. Ichigo lowered himself to the ground, swinging his legs idly out from under his feet over the small cliff they had come to a halt at – the drop below not being more than a few metres.

Grimmjow had settled himself down next to the orange haired man, Ichigo sighing quietly as he brought his arms out and wrapped them around the panther's neck, the man chuckling to himself as the rumbling purrs vibrating through the feline's chest let him know how much the beast had appreciated the contact. Szayel smiled, seating himself down on the other side of Ichigo and letting loose a sigh of content as he leant back, his hands splayed out on the ground behind him.

The air was cool after the warmth of the day, and it was perhaps that which made them feel somewhat lethargic. And it was also with twin cries of shock, that both Szayel and Grimmjow jumped up when Ichigo suddenly toppled over, unconscious and already twitching in fevered intervals.

One look to each other as Szayel quickly scooped the gasping orangette up in his arms and raced with him back to their lodgings, Grimmjow's pace urgent as he sprinted alongside the pink haired man – told them that the moment they had both been waiting for yet dreading had finally arrived.

Ichigo was about to recover his memories. And when he awoke, he would most certainly not be the same again.

* * *

He couldn't move. He had tried that already. It had only ended up resulting in more pain – more blood… more suffering.

He couldn't breathe. His chest ached with excruciating agony with each fevered gasp he made. He gritted his teeth and found that his throat filled and elicited a sickening gurgling – he coughed, and coagulated crimson, his own lifeblood, streamed from his torn throat and lips and dribbled down to pool with the ruby liquid already pouring from his chest.

His vision blurred and he felt dizzy – but he willed himself to hold on. He could feel them nearby – he could almost… call… out…

He tried to speak, but doing so caused him to retch violently on his own blood again and shorten whatever meagre life expectancy he had left. He could feel his heart ready to give out – the spear lodged in his lungs spreading debilitating poison and sending white-hot pain coursing through every battered limb in his body.

He somehow managed to shift his gaze and a weak, garbled cry of pain and heartache whispered from his bloodied lips as through the near blackness of his vision he beheld the sight of Nefertem beside him – pink hair drenched with the red of his blood and amber eyes gazing unblinkingly up above.

He could see the cruel black spear broken off from his chest, its barbed point still wedged deep within his own lungs, killing him off slowly, painfully, just as it was doing to Shesmu. He thought his friend, his lover was already gone and it surely would have seemed that way if not for the brief twitch of his fingers where they lay next to his own, and the weak – too weak – rise and fall of his chest. Still his eyes were unblinking, the light in once liquid gold amber irises almost dead and dull.

He tried to call out his name, but he could no longer speak. A tear tracked down his cheek and mixed with the blood staining his lips. He could only try and make some feeble movement to stretch his hand to clasp the tips of his fingers around his lover's own – and he almost cried again when he felt it – the slight twitch in response as the god's own fingertips curled forwards towards him.

He was still with him – but barely. But with how cold he was, with how still he now lay, he knew that he would be long gone before he could follow. Shesmu's breath hitched painfully and tore open the already gaping wound on his chest further when Nefertem tried to move his lips in one last, quiet whisper – his pale face tilting ever so slowly, too slowly, to face Shesmu's own. And Shesmu felt part of his soul break and fracture into a million pieces when those lips stilled even before that final whisper could be formed on his tongue.

Amber eyes stared lifelessly at him, unseeing, and unblinking. He was gone.

He heard a roar of fury, of pure outrage from above, and Shesmu couldn't think, couldn't breathe over the pain he was suffering both inside and out. The tears flowed, flowed down with his blood as the loss of their lover rent their aching souls apart, sending them into fits of madness. Shesmu's vision was dark, dark and blurred with tears. He knew he would be the next to go. He heard the battle around them, but he couldn't pay attention. It was already too late.

He knew Maahes was paying their price badly – his roars of anguish were piercing his ears and intensifying his mourning tenfold. He heard him crying out their names, he could feel him fly into a frenzy. He didn't even flinch when he lifted hazed brown eyes and saw and heard the head of Seth leave the murderer's neck – blood, gore and the sickening crunch of bone a punishment which came nowhere near close enough to atone for the death of their lover.

He watched weakly as Seth's body was mutilated beyond repair, beyond recognition – Maahes's hands flying as he raised his knife and stabbed it with unbridled wrath into the murderer's heart, carving it out and pulling it free from his chest.

He destroyed him. Utterly and entirely until there was nothing left but blood. Endless streams of blood. It coated the sand and turned the river to poison. And as Shesmu's vision darkened when he saw the tall man slowly turn, he felt his heart break all over again when blue hair swept back with the gust of breeze to reveal those cyan eyes he adored broken beyond repair.

The tears were brimming down his bronzed cheeks, and he fell to his knees beside them.

"No…" He was whispering, his deep wild voice hoarse and almost unrecognisable. "No… no… no… NO!"

He cried their names, his hands flew to their faces, and as Shesmu tried to shake his head, tried to comfort his lover with the last words of his dying breath, to tell him he had avenged them and they knew it had not all been for nothing – that they  _loved_ him…

"G-Gri…mm…jow…"

The last thing he heard was a yell of heart-wrenching anguish as the light finally dimmed from his eyes and his world went black.

When he woke up, Ichigo was screaming.

* * *

Szayel and Grimmjow were growing steadily more frightened with each gasp for breath leaving Ichigo's lips. It had been almost two days since he had collapsed at the cliff side, and they had not left his side since.

He had developed a fever – a merciless fever not unlike Szayel's own when he had fallen sick. They were trying their best to comfort him in his delirium, Szayel straining himself to the point of exhaustion as he attempted to call forth some of the power he had slowly recovered with his returning memories. He had held his palm to Ichigo's forehead, a whispered incantation of Ancient Egyptian origin leaving his lips as he tried to heal the orangette's fever. It had worked, and he had stopped shivering violently in his restless tormented sleep, but the mind was not so kind to him and continued to tear his brain apart from the inside out with horrifying dreams.

Grimmjow was watching, unable to say anything as he stared darkly at the slowly awakening god. He knew this was the last cruel punishment of Osiris – forcing him to watch his lovers suffer and re-live their death in the most brutal, violent ways possible in order to regain their long-lost memories. He wanted to curse him – he  _had_ cursed him – and he wanted to tear him apart. But he could not. He knew that if he did that, the next punishment laid down on him would be far worse than this.

So he could only helplessly watch, his cyan eyes dark and his chest heaving with grief and fury as he was forced to do nothing whilst the man in front of him died a second time in his visions. He had told Szayel to step back and recover, the pink haired man using too much of his strength on the spot as he worked desperately to keep Ichigo's temperature under normal. Szayel didn't want to, but even he knew that if he pushed himself any more it would hurt him greatly, so he could only stare – stare in horror and reach out to clasp Ichigo's hands tightly with his own as Grimmjow stood by his side, his tail comfortingly wrapping around his waist once again.

Grimmjow bowed his head to nuzzle it against the delirious man's cheek, licking the smooth skin in a feline kiss of comfort. He wished he had his human body back – he would be able to do so much more for them both. He growled again and his eyes darkened further still.

"… Was it really this bad when I was…" Szayel didn't finish his sentence, the man bowing his head against Ichigo's heaving chest. He was fatigued beyond all measure. He just wanted this to end already…

Grimmjow moved to nuzzle his head against Szayel's neck, his gaze solemn and his gravelly voice dry when he spoke.

"For the most part, yes." He replied. "Though Seth killed you first, so your memories may not be as tragic as Ichigo's."

Szayel closed his eyes, his teeth gritting. He tightened his hands around Ichigo's.

"Shit…" He cursed. Grimmjow growled softly in agreement, nuzzling his head once more against Szayel's neck, and licking his tongue against the side of his cheek. The pink haired man leant into the panther's touch, his amber eyes glazed with pending tears.

"We have to be strong for him, Nefertem. That's the only thing that will help him now." Grimmjow rumbled softly, though even he couldn't hide the anguish in his tone. Szayel nodded, sucking in a deep breath and trying to calm himself as best he could.

Grimmjow's expression was wounded as he gazed back to Ichigo's face, his cheeks damp with sweat and his mouth parted and gasping for breath. His features were contorted into the face of one suffering extreme agony. He growled softly again, bending down to rest his head against Ichigo's cheek.

"Wake up, Shesmu."

He hoped that calling their lover by his rightful name would somehow bring him back to the light from the darkness of his mind – Ichigo's pained gasps and soft cries almost as heartbreaking to the two gods as the memory of the day they had lost everything.

Warm brown eyes shot open, and the two gods could only cry out in shock. However that brief fancy of hope was short-lived when Ichigo took one look at the pair of them – his eyes wavering and his mouth trembling, and he screamed.

It was a heartbroken wail as emotional torment came crashing down upon him – he gripped his hair and hot tears flooded his eyes as he screamed and screamed – the memories of their deaths… the blood… the smell and taste of destruction in the air… it all faded away as if it was a mere illusion when he had opened his eyes and found himself facing Nefertem and Maahes – almost as if that nightmare had been just that – a nightmare.

He felt arms wrap tightly around him and he continued to scream, crying out their names and screaming even more when his head felt like it was spinning, was overwhelming him when memories of a millennia ago seeped into his brain and took root – and he finally knew just who he was. And who they were beside him.

It made his heart break all over again – but not with anguish this time. He'd woken from a nightmare and had been met with what was surely a dream.

Szayel tried to console the trembling god in his arms as much as he could, his head buried against Ichigo's orange locks of hair as he threaded fingers through the soft spiked strands. He held him close, whispering softly to him, and Ichigo gripped his back and cried onto his shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably.

"I… I remember… I remember I… remember…" He gasped out, over and over. He continued to cry. Szayel clenched his teeth, his heart feeling as if it had broken all over again, unable to say or do anything else except let him voice his anguish, let him fall into his arms and feel that they were real. Grimmjow had lightly sprung up onto the wide bed beside them, and combined with Szayel's comforting embrace, his soothing yet heartbroken purrs as he nuzzled Ichigo's shoulder, cheek, neck and forehead finally lulled Ichigo into calm – his arms tightening around the both of them as he was met with and answered affectionate licks of his cheek by Grimmjow and soft, yet deep and longing kisses on his lips by Szayel.

"Shit…" He rasped when he had finally calmed down enough to see sense – Ichigo's throat sore and his eyes having cried so many tears he didn't think he had any more left to give. "I… never wanna go through that again…  _shit_ …"

He panted and groaned in fatigue and relief when the arms around him tightened and he held them both closer, as close as he physically could at that moment – even that was not enough, but it would have to do for now.

_Shit…_

He felt the warmth of his fellow gods, his lovers, wash over him and it was only when he had opened his eyes again that he had realised they had eased him back down upon the furs, urging him to get rest. He could only weakly nod, the clutches of sleep rising to lull him back under before he had even managed to whisper his last words.

Nefertem and Maahes didn't need to know what it was Shesmu had tried to say before he fell asleep once again – thankfully not in a haunting, plagued nightmare world that he had been before. They already knew – and as they drifted off into a fatigued unconsciousness beside him, their whispered words and promises of love and devotion to him and to each other helped settle them enough to follow their orange haired lover into a dreamless, peaceful sleep. The most resting any had ever had for a millennia.

* * *

The rescue team had scrambled to the tents, cusses flying from some of the men's lips when the weather had taken a turn for the worse even before they had managed to reach the dig site. All across Egypt there were reports of violent storms sweeping across the country – power lines failing and blanketing the nation in complete darkness as the sky overhead turned black as night.

Those who were the devoutly religious of the population had screamed that it was a work of the gods – there had never been a freak storm like this in the history of man before, and there never would be again. Others argued it was simply a side-effect of global warming, though no one – people of the faith or scientist alike – could explain why the storm had formed over the exact location of a newly discovered tomb out at Leontopolis… and why it had started the moment an archaeological team had been sent inside.

But with the rain violently pouring down and the lightning sparking wildly wherever it landed, thunder rumbling through the air in fury, they couldn't determine anything of the dig site's wellbeing. So the rescue team sent out by the British and Cairo Museums waited, hoping this unnatural storm would pass just as suddenly as it had formed.

* * *

There had been a storm during the night – he could catch the crisp scent of rain on the wind as he slowly woke. He frowned momentarily; this storm had not been of his making. It carried with it the unnatural strength and power of an army of gods – such a thing having not been felt by him for millennia. Since he had been stripped of his powers, in fact.

Paying no mind to this, as he hardly cared for the gods now that they had brought so much suffering upon his lovers and himself, Grimmjow groaned faintly as he slowly rose from the bed, stretching his muscles and sighing in satisfaction when his back popped. He felt the warmth of his lover's arms slide down and away from him as he stood – the two having fallen fast asleep with their arms wrapped around him and each other – and he couldn't hold back the grin when he opened his eyes and beheld Nefertem and Shesmu mumbling sleepily in annoyance and displeasure at their source of warmth leaving them so suddenly. He chuckled, standing up and placing a soft kiss to each of their lips, groaning in pleasure at the taste and feel of their mouths upon his after what felt like a lifetime. Which, for a god, was a span of years barely conceivable to the human mind.

His grin widened when he saw amber and brown eyes flutter open, both gods blinking away the blurriness in their vision as their bodies slowly roused from sleep. He patiently waited, smiling as he trailed his eyes over their faces, their bodies, intently studying and savouring each movement and each soft noise that escaped their mouths as they blinked and rubbed their eyes, slowly sitting themselves up. It had been far too long since he had had the pleasure of watching them awaken like this – far too long.

Shesmu was the first to speak.

"Grimmjow? If you walked off again I'm going to—"

Grimmjow couldn't help it. He laughed, long and loud as the orange haired god's light-hearted grumble was cut off as he lifted his head and saw him standing there before them. He couldn't resist teasing him, and the feeling was quite mutual when Nefertem chuckled sleepily and raised his head to eye the two.

"He's still here, Shesmu. Though I probably wouldn't complain even if he did… walk… off…" His words trailed away and his amber eyes widened.

Grimmjow's laughter died down quickly as he saw the expressions upon his lover's faces. They were staring at him with mouths open, the pair almost not blinking. He felt concern quickly flood his senses, and he spoke up.

"What's wrong?" He asked, his rough voice thick with worry.

He could see their eyes trailing all over him, their expressions increasing in their stunned disbelief. He was by now almost on the verge of panicking, wondering what it was that had made them act like this so suddenly. He was about to ask again when Nefertem spoke up, his voice hoarse.

"Maahes…" He whispered. Grimmjow frowned slightly.

"What is it?" He asked again, reaching out a hand to stroke that pale cheek and tilt the man's face up so he could determine if something was wrong with him. He paused though when he had extended his arm to do just that… and what he saw had his own eyes widening, and he felt his heart rise to his throat.

There, in front of him, reaching out to the two was not the powerful navy fur coated limb he had slowly grown accustomed to over the ages of his imprisonment. Instead what met his eyes was a muscled, bronzed arm – a very  _human_ arm which gave way to human fingers which twitched and curled in sharp jerking movements as he flexed his palm.

He sucked in a sharp breath, and he felt his wonder increase when he quickly looked to the side and saw his right arm was indeed the same as his left. He almost felt dizzy.

"I'm…"

He gazed down, and he felt time seem to come to a stop when he took in the expanse of a tanned, well-defined and toned chest, the skin as bronzed and muscled as his arms. Past the slope of his abdominals he could see legs – tall, sturdy legs. He was naked, but that didn't bother him as he reached up to his neck, then his face, almost stumbling back when he felt a chiselled chin, cheeks, a bridge of a nose and a human face – his skin warm and hairless like the rest of his limbs. He saw a slip of bright blue fall into his vision, and he trailed his trembling fingers through the tufts of tousled blue locks which had fallen into his face from his own head.

"I'm…" He couldn't form any more words. He was speechless.

Nefertem and Shesmu had remained silent as they stared, in absolute awe, as Grimmjow gazed at and felt over his once more human body. They took in his muscled form, his body just as beautiful and as powerful as they had remembered it. His hair was just as wild and untamed as the rest of his appearance, and his eyes… his cyan eyes framed by teal markings were still as expressive as ever, as though one look from them would be all it would take to fall and drown in those depths for all eternity.

They slowly stood, barely able to hide the wide smiles on their faces as they approached, reaching out and almost crying in delight as they touched firm muscle and ran their hands over his arms, his shoulders, his chest, his face, his back… Maahes had returned to his original form, and that meant his powers had returned with it.

He was back. Well and truly within the flesh. The last of the curse keeping them here had faded. They would be able to return home.

Maahes raised his face, his cyan eyes swimming with emotion and power as his lovers stepped closer, wrapping their arms around him – Shesmu from the front and Nefertem from the back – and he could only close his eyes as he felt the warmth of the two hold him close, their bodies surrounding his, feeling like they were made to fit and stirring longing within his heart.

"I take back what I said the other day." Nefertem mumbled against Maahes's neck, a smile forming on his lips as he inhaled the intoxicating scent of their lover once again, and felt his body against their own. "I prefer you more this way than as a simple bloody housecat."

Shesmu laughed, his grin wide as he nodded thoroughly in agreement, his hands trailing over Maahes's chest and sighing softly as he felt those muscles twitch in response to his touch. Maahes chuckled, the shock of his transformation gradually wearing off the more they relaxed him. His smile grew, the corners of his lips curling into a wicked smirk.

"Good." He announced, his rough voice almost a devilish purr as he slipped agilely from their grip, his eyes glinting with mischief as he pushed them back against the bed – his lips colliding with their own, lusty and scorching hot with need and love as he prepared to claim two gods for his own all over again. Left breathless and panting, kisses flying, the two didn't even attempt to resist, their longing for him making itself known for miles around as not even the onset of the freshly awakening storm overhead could drown out the sound of their lovemaking.

* * *

The memories had long since come back to him, and as Shesmu basked in the sunshine by the Nile beside his two lovers – feeling sated, satisfied and happy beyond all words – he didn't even notice the fatigue still settling over his mind from that horrid nightmare the night before.

Instead, as the sun seemed to fade into the horizon, painting the temple and the surrounding lands a brilliant crimson red, he breathed in the sweet scented air deeply and felt power surge through his very limbs. The storm from before had abated, and now the three laid down in wait for the rest of their kin to show. They knew that the storm had been a message sent to them from Osiris, but seeing as the punishment for their treachery (as the gods saw it) had been fulfilled, they had no reason to fear whatever came next.

So instead he and Nefertem had laid their heads atop Maahes's lap, simply gazing out in content as their god stroked his hands through their hair, his cyan eyes gazing over the horizon and the wind brushing his blue locks across his forehead.

"Do you ever wonder how our families… our human families anyway, would react when we don't visit them anymore?" Shesmu spoke up quietly after a moment. His lovers glanced at him.

"I… don't know. I don't remember much of mine." Nefertem answered slowly, his pink brows crinkling a little in thought. Shesmu closed his eyes.

"I think I had a father… and sisters. Though the memory is foggy." He continued, the breeze gusting orange locks over his brow. A saddened smile formed on Maahes's lips as he continued to run his hands through pink and orange hair. He knew that with the awakening of their memories the fragments of their human lives would soon fade altogether. After all those memories were a shell to hide their true nature until the curse had been lifted at his temple.

He tilted his head back to the crimson sunset.

"You had human lives. And you had human names. Shall I call you by them?" He grinned softly. Nefertem and Shesmu tilted their heads back to eye the blue haired god. They shrugged, nodding. Maahes smiled.

"Shesmu, you were known as Ichigo when you first came here. Nefertem, you were called Szayel." He answered. He felt a saddened tug of his heart when the two gazed thoughtfully back out over the horizon, as if mulling these words over in their minds. Seeming happy with this, they nodded their consent.

"I don't entirely hate it… so I suppose I can live with that." Nefertem shrugged. Shesmu laughed.

"I like Ichigo." He smiled.

"We'll keep calling you Grimmjow if you call us by those names in return. Sounds fair enough doesn't it?" Nefertem grinned. Grimmjow laughed, long and clearly as he smiled widely.

"I did say I would love that." He teased. Szayel and Ichigo rolled their eyes, chuckling even as the sun dipped its last light behind the pyramids before them, and the air began to shift and grow cold. The three gods watched silently as they stood, seeing the land before them rip and tear into a gaping black maw, the sound of power and electricity crackling through their ears even as the void morphed into a solid darkness, the path before them leading towards what they knew was their rightful home.

"It's about time." Grimmjow grumbled out, rolling his eyes. Ichigo and Szayel merely smiled, their hands reaching down to clasp with his own as with a final glance back at the world they were leaving behind them, they stepped forwards into the dark yet not unwelcoming blackness, the void soon swallowing them up as three gods returned home.

Behind them the temple began to sink and fade, revealing the nothingness that had always existed there as the last of the magic keeping time frozen and still fractured and broke. The moon rose above in the sky, and the land was swallowed in the final light of the last setting sun, before that too faded and became a long forgotten memory.

* * *

"Alright, hurry up and get that door open!"

"We're moving as fast as we can."

"Well move faster!"

The voices of the team rose high and clear in the underground shaft as the rescue workers hurried to try and heave at the rubble which had blocked off the tomb. The storm which had wreaked havoc across Egypt had finally subsided some few hours ago, and they had moved in the moment the mud and slush had dried off enough to allow them to head down there.

The rubble rose high and blocked off any easy access into the underground, and the workers continued to cuss and heave at the rocks to try and clear them enough to send people through. It had only been early that morning that the archaeologists had been sent inside, and including the time it had taken for the rescue team to get here, and the period the storm had raged for, they would have been trapped for around ten hours. It was 7pm, and the last light of the day was setting over the horizon of the neighbouring town of Tell el-Muqdam. Hopefully they could get through before the light decided to give out completely and force them to restart the rescue mission when dawn broke the next day.

A unanimous cry of triumph echoed from the team when they finally cleared the first pile of rubble, and lights were shone inside the dusty caverns ahead. They could see more deposits of rubble and stone, and the workers glanced at one another with grim faces knowing that it would take more than simply a few hours to work through it all.

Having no other choice, they had to pull back for now – and they returned first thing in the morning the next day to continue their work.

It was around 9am – exactly 24 hours since the archaeologists had entered – when the rescue squad had cleared enough for them to navigate with some small degree of difficulty throughout the hot, stuffy passage. Torches were hooked up to walls and the ground, flooding the ancient carved hall with bright light, enabling the team to see.

But as soon as they approached the crumbled walls and downfall of debris, they wished that they hadn't switched the lights on at all.

The archaeologists had been crushed. Even now the workers raised hands to their mouths and bit back tears when they saw the dried blood, the broken limbs – even legs and arms separated far away from their bodies by the side of the walls. It was like something from a nightmare – and a few of the weaker willed members had to hastily excuse themselves from the horror in front of them. But nevertheless the others had to press on, they had to search for any survivors. Though currently with the destruction around them the chances of that seemed very slim indeed.

More hours passed, and the identities of the bodies had been piling up. They had just finished confirming the body of the team leader, Kira Izuru, when a cry from one of the workers ahead drew the attention of the others.

"Over here! I think I can see something!" He called.

The others followed, and further grunts and strains left their lips as they heaved at the rocks which had half-covered the stone floor up ahead. When the debris was pushed away, the last of their hopes fell.

"This was the last of them, wasn't it?" One of the men asked. The others nodded.

"Including these two, that's the entire fifteen." A woman replied, her voice cracking with emotion.

The leader sighed, running a hand through his hair and nodding as he directed his next orders to two others beside him.

"Get the stretchers in here, we have two more bodies to identify. One of you get ready to inform the families. Christ this expedition was a death trap." He sighed heavily, the workers hurrying off to do as they were instructed. He shone his torch over the bloodied and broken remains of two of the researchers – a man with what looked like pink hair though it was hard to tell with the amount of blood caking to his skull. He had fallen on top of a shorter male with orange locks, dyed almost a dark red from the dried blood pooling from his forehead. They had been killed like the rest of the team – buried alive under the rubble.

As he was about to turn away the team leader paused, noticing something out of the corner of his eyes. He strode forwards, shining his light down upon the deceased pair. What he saw made his heart ache, and his expression grew dark.

The two had fallen with their arms wrapped around each other, as though in their last desperate moments they had tried to pull each other away from the cave-in, only to be caught by the full brunt of it instead. Clutched tightly in the hands that were not pulled close around each other for protection were held the remnants of a feline skull.

His expression grim, he stood up and sighed deeply as he ran his hands over his tired eyes.

"Are they…?" One of the team members nearby spoke up, her voice timid. The leader nodded.

"Gone. Just like the rest of them. No one survived." He answered, his voice heavy. The woman closed her eyes. The leader reached out to squeeze her shoulder comfortingly, guiding her out of the broken halls along with him. Before they left the tomb to make way for the stretchers he turned his head, his eyes sad as he glanced once last time at the death behind him.

"I hope you all made it home in the end." He whispered.

He turned off his torch and left.

* * *

**THE END**


End file.
